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WILD Colorado:
Crossroads of Biodiversity
A Message from the
Director
July 1, 2003
For Wildlife –
For People
Dear Educator,
Colorado is a unique and special place. With its vast prairies, high
mountains, deep canyons and numerous river headwaters, Colorado is
truly a crossroad of biodiversity that provides a rich environment for
abundant and diverse species of wildlife. Our rich wildlife heritage is
a source of pride for our citizens and can be an incredibly powerful
teaching tool in the classroom. To help teachers and students learn
about Colorado’s ecosystems and its wildlife, the Division of Wildlife
has prepared a set of ecosystem posters and this education guide.
Together they will provide an overview of the biodiversity of our state
as it applies to the eight major ecosystems of Colorado. This project
was funded in part by a Wildlife Conservation and Restoration
Program grant.
Sincerely,
Russell George, Director
Colorado Division of Wildlife
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Activity: Which Niche? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Grasslands Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Grasslands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Sage Shrublands Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Sagebrush Shrublands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Montane Shrublands Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Montane Shrublands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Piñon-Juniper Woodland Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Piñon-Juniper Woodland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Montane Forests Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Montane Forests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Subalpine Forests Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Subalpine Forests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Alpine Tundra Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Treeline and Alpine Tundra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Activity: The Edge of Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Riparian Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Aquatic Ecosystems, Riparian Areas, and Wetlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Activity: Wetland Metaphors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
References and Field Identification Manuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
This book was written by Wendy Hanophy and Harv Teitelbaum
with illustrations by Marjorie Leggitt and paintings by Paul Gray. Book design and printing by the State of Colorado Integrated Document Factory.
Colorado Division of Wildlife, Education Section, 6060 Broadway, Denver, Colorado 80216
TA B L E
OF
CONTENTS
1
Introduction
What is Biodiversity?
Biodiversity is short for biological diversity. It
includes the variety of species, the variety of genetic
differences within species, and the variety of ecosystems within a recognizable area. It is the richness of
life.
Colorado—Crossroads of Biodiversity
Colorado’s location and natural features make it
home for a wide variety of species. From the prairie
at elevations below 4,000 feet to the alpine tundra
above 14,000 feet, a diversity of landscapes provides
opportunities for a rich mixture of wildlife. From dry
semi-desert shrublands to cool and moist riparian
areas, from treeless canyonlands to expansive
montane forests, Colorado has an enormous diversity
of habitats—the places where organisms live and get
the food, water, shelter and living space they need to
survive.
The Continental Divide provides a natural
barrier between species from the eastern and western
United States. Northern and southern species meet
and mix among the sagebrush and piñon-juniper in
the lower portion of the state. Colorado also lies
within the migratory routes of many North American
bird species. Some of these birds make their home in
the state part of the year and others are just passing
through. Colorado truly is a crossroads of biodiversity.
Habitats and Ecosystems
All of the species that live and interact in an area
form a community. Each species within that community has its own distinct habitat needs, which may be
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WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
found within one or more ecosystems. The word
ecosystem is used to describe the sum of the interactions between a community of species and the nonliving components of the environment, such as
temperature, soils, water, and elevation. Together,
the non-living, or abiotic factors, and living, or biotic
factors, in an ecosystem help determine which
species of plants and animals can thrive there.
Living things effect other living things, directly
or through habitat alteration. The influence of two
species on each other over time helps shape the
appearance and behavior of both species. This shared
shaping of adaptations is known as coevolution, and
often benefits both species. In each of Colorado’s
major ecosystems, we find examples of species that
influence, and have been influenced by, other
species over time. Some have even evolved to
depend on each other for their very survival.
The great diversity of habitats and abiotic factors
in Colorado’s ecosystems create numerous opportunities for species. These opportunities, the “jobs” or
functions available to living things in an ecosystem,
are known as niches. More niches in an ecosystem in
turn provide more options and choices for a great
number and variety of species, and make the
ecosystem better able to adapt to change.
Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Many ecologists determine the vitality of an
ecosystem by considering its current biodiversity
along with the ecosystem’s ability to maintain its biodiversity in the future. Colorado’s major ecosystems
have evolved over thousands, even millions of years.
These ecosystems are dynamic, and disturbances are
normal. Change is natural, and organisms have
evolved over time to cope with all sorts of upsets
such as storms, fire, floods and other disturbances.
Small-scale disturbances can promote biodiversity by increasing the variety of habitat and niches.
For example, a fallen tree can allow more sunlight to
reach plants on the forest floor, or provide food and
shelter for animals and microorganisms. If there is
enough biodiversity, even large-scale natural disasters
such as fires and floods can eventually lead to
increased biodiversity as new species rush in to fill
empty niches.
Problems occur when there is not enough biodiversity available in an ecosystem to survive changes
in environmental conditions. When too much habitat
and genetic diversity has been lost, and the complex
interactions that make ecosystem recovery possible
are severely disrupted, human intervention can
sometimes aid in restarting natural processes, and
reclamation can make a landscape inhabitable for a
minimal range of species. However, in areas that
contain endemic species, those found nowhere else
in the world, natural or man-made disturbances can
precipitate the extinction of a species and the loss of
its function in an ecosystem, an irrevocable disaster.
Colorado is notable for the presence of a large
number (93) of endemic species. In addition, some
10 percent of the total number of plant and animal
species found in Colorado are considered rare or at
risk of extinction—11.2 percent of vascular plants, 4.1
percent of reptiles, and 18.8 percent of freshwater
fish. When people know the relative status of biodiversity in their area, they are better able to make
decisions that may impact sensitive species.
Biodiversity: You Can’t Judge a Book
by its Cover
Sometimes appearances can be deceiving when
it comes to biodiversity. We tend to view green landscapes as desirable, lush, and rich with life. While
Colorado’s native grasslands may seem brown and
lifeless in comparison to our rich green lawn, they
support a far greater diversity of life in the same
sized space. That’s because our lawn contains just a
single species of grass; it is a monoculture landscape
that provides habitat for only a limited number of
species
Similarly, a healthy ponderosa pine forest may
look somewhat dry and sparse. Nonetheless, it contains a variety of individual trees of differing ages and
sizes, along with changing patterns of shade, light,
open spaces, moisture, and soil types, providing
many niches.
A Place in the Food Web
Ecologists often group species in an ecosystem
according to their role in the food chain, or their
trophic (feeding) level. Producers produce their
own food and serve mostly as food for others.
Consumers mostly eat or consume others, and
decomposers help break down, or decompose, all
the others. Plants are producers. Consumers include
large animals like deer and mountain lions, or smaller
species such as lizards and mice. Decomposers are
mostly small microorganisms. It is important to
realize that, while one species might be a consumer
some of the time, it may itself be food at another
time. The biggest predator may someday be food for
the smallest decomposer. The relationships are not
simple and direct, but form a web of relationships.
Decomposers are the most numerous organisms
in an ecosystem, followed by producers, and then
consumers. Since energy is partly used and dissipated
as it passes from one living thing to the next, this proportional relationship helps ensure that there is sufficient food for species in the different trophic levels
to survive. We can visually represent this general
relationship in the form of a pyramid like this:
Consumers
(Omnivores)
SUN
Consumers
(Carnivores)
Decomposers
Consumers
(Herbivores)
Producers
(Plants)
An organism’s place in the food web is an essential component of its niche, and each species occupies one or more of these trophic levels. Species at
one level provide life energy (food) for the species in
the next level. If biodiversity is severely reduced and
there is not enough food available at one trophic
level to support the next level, the pyramid can “collapse,” and the ecosystem cannot function.
Interestingly, while there exist more species of
microorganisms than plants, and more plants than
animals, we’ve actually identified more animals than
plants, and more plants than microorganisms! A
pyramid of known species would be labeled like the
one above, but would have the point facing down!
Perhaps this is because we’re drawn to study those
species to which we feel closest, or those that appear
to affect us directly. As we discover more about food
webs and the interrelationships between species,
however, we are paying more attention to all the
living organisms in an ecosystem.
Measuring Biodiversity
Diversity of life is difficult to measure precisely.
However, some methods have been developed that
give a good indication of species biodiversity. These
methods usually involve two steps. First, the number
INTRODUCTION
3
of species in the area being studied, or species richness, is counted. Then the number of individuals in
each species, or species abundance, is counted.
Considering these two counts together gives an indication of biodiversity.
In general, areas that contain many different
species, with an appropriate number of individuals in
each species, are more biodiverse. Areas with few of
the possible species, or with most individuals
belonging to only one or two of the many species
present, are less biodiverse. However, a high number
of species in an ecosystem does not necessarily mean
that the ecosystem is healthier or more important
than another ecosystem with few species. In
Colorado, alpine tundra ecosystems cannot support
the same numbers or variety of species as the state’s
grasslands or forests.
Measuring biodiversity can be very helpful in
seeing differences and changes between areas, or in
one area over time. Remember that living things
include more than just big, familiar animals. Plants
and insects are as important to biodiversity as the
animals that depend on them, as are the microorganisms that make up the majority of life forms on earth.
Each species is itself an ecosystem containing
additional species. For example, just as different
kinds of birds make use of ponderosa trees, insects
and microorganisms find homes on and in the birds.
Opportunities for birds create opportunities for other
life forms. Diversity breeds diversity. A wide variety
of species finds homes in Colorado’s ecosystems.
faster, or are more resistant to disease or insect
attacks.
Our homes, the furnishings inside them, and
often the fuel to heat them come from materials in
our environment. The woods, oils, resins, waxes, and
gums of many tree species provide us with many
options for building and heating. Likewise, our
clothing is often made from natural plant fibers (such
as cotton or linen) or from animals (wool, silk, skins).
About 80 percent of the world’s population still
use plants as their primary source of medicine. Close
to 30 percent of all pharmaceuticals sold in Colorado
were developed from plants and animals.
In addition to providing products, diverse ecosystems provide us with life-sustaining services. We can
thank a pollinator for every third bite of food we
take. Many plants grown in our state depend on
bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, birds, and
bats for pollination. Feed crops such as alfalfa and
hay, and the wonderful peaches produced on
Colorado’s western slope, all depend on pollinators!
Why is Biodiversity Important to
Wildlife?
Loss of biodiversity directly affects wildlife by
reducing opportunities for food, shelter, nesting,
cover, and other necessities. This affects species’
ability to survive. A loss of biodiversity can make an
ecosystem less able to withstand stress and change
and may lead to poor quality habitats and declining
wildlife populations.
Biodiversity is Important to People Too!
Biodiversity generates goods and services for
the most basic human needs such as food, shelter,
medicine, and fresh air and water. In addition,
humans have used a wide variety of plant and animal
species to produce forms of transportation, musical
instruments, tools, weapons, food holders and many
other products.
All the food we grow comes from plants and
animals that originated from varieties found in
nature. We often must return to nature to find wild
species with different genetic traits to improve
domestic varieties of crops so that they can grow
4
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
Diverse ecosystems sustain processes that purify
both air and water. Through photosynthesis, trees
and other plants regulate water vapor, release oxygen,
and cycle nutrients. Vegetation plays a crucial role in
maintaining the planet’s water cycle. Not only do
plants give off moisture through their leaves and
provide shade to slow evaporation, but they often
filter water before it reaches lakes and rivers, providing clean water for all. Plants hold moisture in the
soil and help reduce the effects of drought. Plant
communities also play an important role in flood
control, holding soil in place and preventing erosion.
rejuvenation, beauty, and peace. In some cultures,
certain species are integral to spiritual beliefs, traditional rituals, and the people’s heritage. What’s more,
learning from examples in nature improves the
quality of our lives. For example,
watching different birds and how they
use their wings helped humans achieve
flight and continues to help us improve
airplane design.
While all of the benefits mentioned
are incentive for all of us to protect and
preserve biodiversity, many people feel
that each species should be respected and
protected simply because it exists. We don’t
always know how a species or an ecosystem can or
will benefit us. Perhaps we’re encouraged by the
beauty we see in diverse landscapes, or by how we
feel after we’ve been in a diverse landscape, to
treasure biodiversity for its own sake.
In a state with abundant natural resources and a
variety of landscapes like Colorado, biodiversity is
also good for the economy. Many people come to our
state to visit its grasslands, mountains, and canyons,
spending millions of dollars each year on activities
such as hunting, fishing, camping, skiing, hiking, and
wildlife watching. A sustainable supply of natural
materials for business also depends on biodiversity.
There are benefits from species diversity that are
less tangible, but nevertheless priceless. For many of
us, nature is vital to our emotional, psychological, and
spiritual well being, providing a source of relaxation,
Definitions and Classification:
Something to Think About
Colorado scientists, teachers and public officials have in recent years increasingly accepted
the use of the term “ecosystem” to describe major
areas of our state. But a different word could have
been used. Landscape is a general term for an
area that shares enough features to set it apart
from another area. A biome is a large geographic
area with uniform climatic conditions and distinct
vegetation such as the North American desert,
prairie, or coniferous forest. A life zone is a band
or belt of plant and animal life, usually on the side
of a hill or mountain, which changes with elevation or latitude. A bioregion is an area whose
physical, ecological, or cultural characteristics set
it apart from surrounding areas. The meaning of
words changes and evolves over time and place.
Biodiversity is Important to the Planet!
In prairies, ponds, deserts or forests, important
processes and interactions are taking place. Predators
are consuming prey, decomposers are breaking down
dead plants and animals and returning nutrients to
the soil, and myriad other exchanges are taking place.
Each of these processes and ecosystems are intricately linked, supporting each other. Loss of biodiversity anywhere on the planet greatly impacts
human society as well as ecosystems and their valuable services.
Even you can have an effect on their meanings in
the future by how you understand and use these
words today.
Some of you may wonder…why eight
Colorado ecosystems, and not more or fewer? It
is true that different scientists have looked at
Colorado and seen different numbers of major
ecosystems. Professional differences, as well as
differences in outlook and standards have resulted
in different numbers. In addition, where one
ecosystem ends and another begins is not always
clear. Changes within and between these ecosystems can be gradual. Features of one can often
be found in others. Even so, each of these eight
major ecosystems generally has a particular set of
plants, animals and other characteristics. Dividing
the state into these eight has become widely
accepted and has led to a greater appreciation of
our Colorado environment.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
5
Activity: Which Niche?
Objectives
Students will:
1.) define ecological niche; and
2.) give at least one example of an animal and its
ecological niche.
Method
Students compare ecological niches with careers
in their community.
concept is most useful in terms of differences among
species. For instance, one could compare the niches
of four American warblers that all breed in the same
habitat, a spruce forest, but forage and nest in different parts of the spruce tree.)
An animal’s niche can be described as what it does
for a living. In a sense, this role can be compared to
what people do for a living—that is, what their jobs or
professions are in the communities in which they live.
The major purpose of this activity is for students
to understand the concept of ecological niche, simultaneously learning more about potential careers in
their own community.
Materials
A guest speaker; chalkboard; reference materials.
Background
Each animal has a role in the ecosystem. This
role is called its ecological niche. The niche includes
such things as where and how it gathers food, its role
in the food chain, what it gives to and does for the
ecosystem, its habits,
periods of activity and so
forth. (Because a description of the complete ecological niche would
include an infinite
number of
factors, the
Procedure
1.) Explain to the students that in this activity they
will be comparing human professions to the roles
of animals in environments (animal professions).
2.) Select a few interesting jobs for discussion.
Invite a doctor, dentist, social worker, truck
driver, cook, etc., to your class to talk about their
work. Ask questions of the speaker. Work with
the students to develop the questions. Have the
students take notes and record the answers
during or immediately after the presentation,
asking additional questions for clarification as
necessary. Points to include:
• what they do for the community (the service
provided);
• how they provide the service;
• what resources are used by them in providing
the service;
• where they live and work;
• the times during which they work;
• what other professions they are dependent
upon for the functioning of their profession
(janitor, delivery person, secretary, repair
person);
American Beaver
6
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
• what special habits they exhibit;
• what other professions they compete
with, if any; and
• what other professions they cooperate
with, if any.
Ask the students to produce a written
summary of the information they
acquire concerning each of the jobs
they investigate.
3.) Have the students brainstorm a
variety of animals living in a particular ecosystem (forest, stream,
desert, tundra). A photograph
could serve as a stimulus. List
representative members of this
ecosystem on the blackboard.
Make sure a variety of animals—
including predator, prey, scavengers, etc.—are included.
4.) Choose one of the animals listed
and, as a group, begin discussing the
same questions for it asked of the
visiting professional. In this way the
students can see how the profession concept
applies as a metaphor. Identify the animal’s profession as its ecological niche.
OPTIONAL: As individual projects or in teams,
students should select one animal, research the
niche it fills and answer the same questions used
for human jobs. As a culmination, each team can
make a visual and/or verbal presentation about
its animal and its niche.
Extension
Have the students identify niches that are overlapping and that compete or cooperate for resources.
Connections may also be made between niches to
illustrate interdependency webs in the ecosystem.
uses or needs, what special habits it exhibits,
what other organisms it competes with for the
same niche, and anything else you think is especially interesting about this niche and how it is
filled.
3.) Create a poster that shows all the facets of an
animal’s niche.
Duration: one to four 45-minute sessions
Group Size: any
Setting: indoors
Vocabulary: ecological niche, career, community
This activity was adapted with permission from,
“Project WILD K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide.”
Evaluation
1.) Define ecological niche.
2.) Select any animal and describe its ecological
niche. Include: what it does for the ecosystem,
how it provides this service, the resources it uses,
where it lives, when it does its work, what other
organisms depend upon it, what other organisms
it is dependent upon, what special adaptations it
“Which Niche?” is an example of the many
Project WILD educational activities that can be
used in both classroom and non-formal settings
to teach concepts found in WILD Colorado:
Crossroads of Biodiversity.” For more information
about Project WILD activities and workshops,
please see the inside back cover of this book.
Table of Contents
A C T I V I T Y: W H I C H N I C H E ?
7
11
8
12
15
3
13
7
6
14
5
1
9
6
18
16
17
2
10
4
8
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
GRASSLANDS
9
Scaled Quail (Callipepla squamata)—common in southeastern Colorado grasslands, but also found in shrublands and piñon-juniper woodlands. They are
easily identified by their pronounced white-tipped crests.
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)—found at all but the highest elevations of Colorado in summer, and in eastern and western lowlands year round.
The meadowlark sings a melodic, flute-like song.
Swainson’s Hawk (Buteo swainsoni)—found throughout the eastern prairie
spring to fall, less common in western Colorado. In addition to hunting for
rodents, reptiles and other birds from the air, Swainson’s hawks also hop around
the ground in search of insects.
Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)—a somewhat common resident of all but the
higher Colorado elevations in winter, less common at other times. White patches
under the wings and on the tail are indicative of an immature Golden.
Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys)—historically abundant in short-grass
prairie, also found in the shrublands of northwestern Colorado. The male of our
state bird is easily identified in summer by its black body and white wing
patches.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
American Badger (Taxidea taxus)—ranges throughout Colorado, wherever
prairie dogs, gophers, ground squirrels and other rodents can be hunted. The
badger can be identified by a white stripe running up from the nose to the back
of the head.
Black-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus)—named for the black hairs at
the tip of the tail, a crucial species of eastern Colorado grasslands whose
numbers and environmental effects influence the numbers and habitat opportunities of many other species. Prairie dogs form colonies, called towns, and
engage in complex social interactions.
8.
9.
10. Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis)—found throughout much of Colorado
from grassland to montane forest, an important predator of smaller mammals.
Reptiles
Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)—often mistakenly called an antelope, named
for the short prongs that extend forward from near the midpoint of the horns.
Among the fastest animals on Earth, pronghorn can sustain speeds of 30 mph
and have been timed achieving 70 mph.
7.
Mammals
Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)—a long-legged, ground-dwelling owl usually
found near prairie dog towns. They are able to imitate the sound of a rattlesnake
when threatened.
1.
Birds
18. Oneseed Juniper (Sabina monosperma)—more typically associated with piñonjuniper woodlands, but found in higher grasslands and transitional zones. Cones
of any one tree are of only one sex, with the female cones larger and berry-like.
Tree
17. Cholla (Cylindropuntia imbricata)—sometimes called the tree cholla or candelabra cholla, a leafless bush or small tree with jointed branches occurring in
Colorado primarily in the southeast. In late spring and early summer, the cholla
can be covered with many reddish or lavender-colored flowers.
16. Prickly-pear (Opuntia polyacantha)—cactus characterized by flat, green, ovalshaped pads with spikes arranged in regularly spaced bundles. The flowers that
appear in late spring are yellow or reddish in color and up to 3 inches across.
15. Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)—a common plant with bright yellow
petals surrounding a maroon-colored center on a stalk that can grow 10 feet high
or more. Besides the bright color of its petals, the sunflower was so-named
because the heads follow the sun from dawn to dusk.
14. Yucca (Yucca glauca)—prefers dry slopes and hillsides. The pod-like fruit of the
yucca grows along a tall stalk, while the leaves, long, thin and sharp, radiate from
the base.
Plants
13. Painted Grasshopper (Dactylotum bicolor)—brightly colored with patterns of
red-orange, blue-black, yellow and white, found in dry grasslands and foothills.
They show a dietary preference for grasses, especially alfalfa.
Insect
12. Tarantula (Aphonopelma hentzi)—sometimes called the Texas Brown, one of
three tarantula species found in Colorado. After about ten years of living apart
from females, the males migrate, usually in September or October, in search of
mates.
Spider
11. Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata)—identified by streaks or dots of yellow on
an otherwise dark shell. These turtles can often be found on roads after heavy
rains, resulting in large numbers being killed by automobiles.
These snakes hibernate in rodent burrows or rock crevices, emerging usually
mid-April to mid-May.
Setting—Picket Wire Canyonlands near La Junta
Grasslands
Lark Bunting
Near the town of Briggsdale in northeastern
Colorado, between Fort Collins and Sterling, is the
Pawnee National Grassland, one of the last
remaining native grasslands in our state. It is part of
a larger grassland ecosystem that covers most of the
eastern third of the state. Grasslands like the
Pawnee, containing historical mixes of native grasses,
are now rare in Colorado because of changes in land
use, fire cycles, and grazing patterns. High
altitude grasslands, found in a few areas
such as South Park, support their own mix
of animal and plant life.
Sod-forming grasses such as buffalo grass and
our state grass, blue grama, provide the foundation
for grassland ecosystems. Deep vertical roots, along
with a widespread network of fine lateral roots just
below the surface help these grasses quickly absorb
scarce rainwater. They reproduce by sending out
shoots and runners above and
below the ground. The result
is a turf-like mat of vegetation ideal for grazing.
Wildlife You Might
Discover in the Grasslands
Look closely and you may spot the distinctive
black and white markings of our state bird, the lark
bunting. You may hear the beautiful song of the
meadowlark. Since there are few trees in this
ecosystem, birds have adapted by building their nests
on the ground, and calling their songs from the grass
or in flight.
You may see and hear prairie dogs, and the collection of dirt mounds that make up their colonies or
“towns.” In the distance you may see a herd of our
state’s fastest mammal, the pronghorn, often referred
to as an antelope. Above you might be lucky enough
to spot a red-tailed hawk or golden eagle on the
lookout for small mammals, reptiles, and other birds
to eat. But there’s also much activity in the grass
beneath your feet. Here you may find a crab spider,
named for its crab-like appearance when holding up
its two front legs, hunting for a meal. Unlike many
spiders found in forested ecosystems, the crab spider
does not build a web to catch its prey, relying instead
on its eyes to detect the slightest movements in the
grass.
What Shaped the Grasslands?
Blue Grama
10
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
Geography and climate helped shape the grassland ecosystem. About 65 million years ago, the
Rocky Mountains began reforming. Even as they
were building up, wind and water were working to
wear them down by carrying away rocks, dirt and
sediment to the east. Over many centuries this
eroded material became the soil that supports the
plant and animal life of Colorado’s grasslands.
Colorado’s eastern climate is too dry to support
trees, and the soil is not moist enough to support the
tall grasses of the Midwest prairies to the east of
Colorado. Our short-grass prairie lies in the “rain
shadow” of the Rocky Mountains. Just as the sun
casts a shadow when blocked by the mountains, the
mountains block much of the moisture until clouds
and storms can regroup about 200 miles to the east.
As moisture in the atmosphere is forced upwards by
the Rockies, rain and snow fall over the mountains
and foothills, leaving little for the grasslands until
near the Kansas border. Mostly, Colorado’s grasslands
get moisture from intermittent streams, and from
occasional summer storms.
Colorado’s eastern grasslands are cold in the
winter and hot in the summer. It is often windy. In
the winter, these winds can lead to blizzard conditions, blowing the snow into high drifts. In the
summer the winds dry the grasses, providing ample
fuel for natural fires.
Historically, fire was a regular occurrence before
people settled the grasslands. Fire renewed and
restored the grassland. Many grassland species are
not only adapted to fire, but have evolved ways to
benefit from it. Most of the grass’s biomass (its living
material) is underground. When fires swept the grasslands during the dry season, the native grasses were
dormant. Though they appeared brown and lifeless
on the surface, their deep roots were alive and
escaped permanent damage from the fires. Many
Prairie Dogs
non-native grasses and other plants that could take
over the native grasses’ territory were not adapted to
fire. They were pushed back by fire, allowing native
grasses to thrive. Fire also helped clean out dead
plant material while adding nutrients to the soil.
Fire suppression efforts since the early 1900’s have
changed the makeup of many grassland communities,
and it is now recognized that using controlled fires
as a management tool can improve the quality of
grasslands.
A Closer Look at One Grassland
Species
American bison, often called buffalo, benefited
from fire. They preferred to graze on the fresh native
grasses in newly burned areas and, by doing so, initiated the return of other grass species. Moving from
one grazing location to another, bison thinned and
opened the ground cover, allowing moisture and light
to penetrate. The nitrogen from bison urine acted as
a fertilizer, encouraging plant growth. Their hooves
helped break up the hard crust on the grassland soil.
The hair on their foreheads and front legs picked up
seeds as they fed. The seeds were then carried to
recently burned areas that lacked mature seed-producing grasses, helping revegetate the region. Bison
droppings (scat) also contain a large variety of seeds.
Other animals, such as kangaroo rats, found
abundant food by following the bison along their
migratory wanderings. The bison’s feeding and trampling actions exposed the insects and seeds that
made up the rat’s diet. Bison scat, known unceremoniously as buffalo chips, was itself food, shelter, and
nursery for a variety of invertebrate life. Some flying
insects stuck close to herds, awaiting the appearance
of fresh dung, while others traced the scent from the
ground. The tumblebug beetle shaped a bit of dung
into a ball, deposited its egg into this protective environment, then rolled the ball back to its nest. Since
bison were grazers, meaning that they primarily eat
grass, they did not compete with pronghorn which,
as browsers, fed on a variety of plant materials.
While, overall, bison grazing clipped the height
of grasses and contributed to the vitality of the grassland, localized affects varied greatly. Areas favored by
the bison might have been grazed down to stubble,
while other areas were left virtually untouched.
Buffalo wallows, rounded depressions that result
from bison rolling on their backs to clean themselves
and relieve itching, remain as bare dirt a hundred
years after their creation. The range of bison grazing
behavior resulted in a greater diversity of habitats
available to many plains’ species. For example, the
GRASSLANDS
11
increases biodiversity. With
proper rangeland management, grazers such as cattle
can replace many of the
ecosystem functions of the
bison, providing both cleared
landscapes for species such
as the mountain plovers, and
sufficient grazing and
browsing opportunities for
other species. Enhanced biodiversity tends to neither
maximize nor minimize populations, but rather optimizes
population balance.
Crossroads of
Biodiversity—
Colorado’s
Grasslands
American Bison
mountain plover depends on a sufficient supply of
open and bare areas to successfully hunt for insects
and to more easily spot predators. On the other hand,
land predators, such as coyote and fox, benefit from
the increased cover provided by ungrazed grasses.
Until slain to near extinction, bison wandered
the plains in great numbers. Bison still exist on preserves in Colorado but, since they are no longer
found in the wild, are called an extirpated species.
With the absence of bison from this ecosystem, there
have been attempts to replicate some of the ecologically important effects of bison on the grasslands.
Ranchers, who need to ensure sustainable pasturage for their cattle, seek to mimic the migratory
grazing patterns of bison by utilizing rotational
grazing techniques. Pasture condition is carefully
monitored and cattle are moved from one site to
another so that plant root sufficiency is maintained.
However, it’s important to avoid a single
approach to grassland management, which, if applied
universally throughout the grassland ecosystem,
might favor some species at the expense of others.
Large expanses of ungrazed grasses can allow populations of pest species such as grasshoppers to increase
to destructive levels, while vast areas of barren
ground lead to erosion. Planners, farmers and conservation biologists now recognize that a diversity of
grass height and cover is desirable because it
12
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
The outermost ranges of
the thirteen-lined ground
squirrel and the white-tailed
jackrabbit overlap in the short-grass
prairie of eastern Colorado. Primarily a species of
the upper mid-western U.S., the thirteen-lined
ground squirrel is near the western end of its range in
Colorado, while the white-tailed jackrabbit is at the
southern end of its range.
Both animals eat grasses and other vegetation.
The ground squirrel will also eat insects and other
Thirteen-lined
Ground Squirrel
small animals. Both the ground squirrel and
jackrabbit are themselves food for coyotes, foxes,
hawks and eagles.
Although they have similar diets
and require similar homes on the
range, they occupy different niches
and don’t usually compete with
each other. That’s because, while
the white-tailed jackrabbit is nocturnal (most active at night), the thirteen-lined ground squirrel is diurnal
(most active in the daytime). The
ground squirrel lives in shallow burrows
and hibernates in winter, while the
jackrabbit does not hibernate, often
burrowing out hiding places in the
snow.
Were they ever to meet, however, and challenge one another to a race, it would be no
contest. Cruising along at a leisurely eight miles
per hour, the thirteen-lined ground squirrel is no
match for the white-tailed jackrabbit, which has
been clocked at speeds of 45 miles per hour!
A Grassland by any Other Name…
Other names for grassland ecosystems include
prairie, plain, steppe, pampa, savannah, and veld. These
names describe grasslands that may differ in moisture, elevation and vegetation from those found
in Colorado. Some describe grasslands found only
in particular regions of the world.
White-tailed
Jackrabbit
Table of Contents
GRASSLANDS
13
6
15
14
8
7
2
16
18
5
11
12
17
9
13
10
1
3
4
14
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
SAGEBRUSH SHRUBLANDS
15
Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)—named for their black, “horned” feathers,
more pronounced on the male; prefers open, low-vegetation habitats. Aerial
courtship displays by the male begin with a steep ascent, with circling and
singing at the high point, followed by a steep dive.
Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides)—brilliantly sky blue-colored, found primarily in central and western Colorado. These bluebirds are secondary cavitynesters, often using old woodpecker holes and cliff swallow nests, in addition to
buildings and nesting boxes.
Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)—the golden color is most noticeable on the
crown and nape of adults. In addition to rabbits and squirrels, road-kill deer help
sustain these eagles through the winter.
Western Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica)—inhabits open shrublands and
woodlands between 5,000–7,000 feet. These sky blue-colored jays are usually
found in pairs occupying fixed territories.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus)—so-named for the black stripe that
extends from the tail to the rump; also nicknamed “jackass rabbit” for its huge
ears. Feeding mostly on grasses, shrubs and forbs, they are themselves a primary
food for coyotes and golden eagles.
Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)—inhabit all of Colorado’s ecosystems from
grasslands to tundra. Named for the large ears, these deer have white tails
tipped with black and scent glands above the back hooves.
American Elk/Wapiti (Cervus elaphus)—common throughout central and
western Colorado above 5,000 feet. In spring, migrating elk follow the melting
snow pack to higher elevations; in winter, snow depth triggers downward migration.
7.
8.
9.
10. Coyote (Canis latrans)—common in all Colorado habitats at all elevations, generally identified by a long pointed muzzle, pointed ears, and a bushy tail held
downward, even when running. The coyote’s scientific name means “barking
dog” while its common name comes from the Aztec Nahuatl word “coyotl”,
meaning “singing dog”.
American Badger (Taxidea taxus)—ranges throughout Colorado, wherever
prairie dogs, gophers, ground squirrels and other rodents can be hunted. The
badger can be identified by a white stripe running up from the nose to the back
of the head.
6.
Mammals
Sage Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)—found in sage shrubland habitats in
northwestern Colorado and the Gunnison River basin. As part of the mating
ritual, males inflate air sacs on their chests, fan their sharp-pointed tails, and
engage in complex struts, steps and other movements.
1.
Birds
18. Piñon Pine (Pinus edulis)—defining tree of the piñon-juniper woodland, cones
contain large pine nuts which are eaten by a variety of animals, including
humans. In addition to food, this tree provided Native Americans and settlers
with firewood and building material needed for furniture, shelter, and household
items.
17. Utah Juniper (Sabina utahensis)—predominant juniper of the lower-elevations of
western Colorado. Unlike Colorado’s other juniper trees, the Utah Juniper
usually has both male flowers and female berries on the same tree.
Trees
16. Sagebrush (Seriphidium spp.)—three common species found in Colorado’s sage
shrubland habitats. Big sagebrush (S. tridentatum), the tallest, is found at lower
elevations in deeper soils, black sagebrush (S. novum), dense and dark in appearance, at middle elevations, and mountain sagebrush (S. vaseyanum) at the higher
limits of this ecosystem.
15. Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus spp.)—several species found in sage shrublands
and piñon-juniper woodlands, a favored food of jackrabbits. Native Americans
used the golden yellow flowers to make dyes.
14. Paintbrush (Castilleja spp.)—several species, commonly called Indian paintbrush, often found in conjunction with sagebrush. Representative is desert
paintbrush (C. chromosa), whose colorful two-tone flowers are pale in the middle
and reddish-orange at the edges.
Plants
13. White-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys leucurus)—distinguished from the blacktailed prairie dog of eastern grasslands, and the Gunnison’s prairie dog of south
central and southwestern Colorado, by a white or whitish tip on the tail and dark
facial markings. While black-tailed prairie dogs can undergo a slowed metabolism called torpor during extreme cold and snowstorms, white-taileds hibernate
for three to six months.
12. Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)—often mistakenly called an antelope, named
for the short prongs that extend forward from near the midpoint of the horns.
Among the fastest animals on Earth, pronghorn can sustain speeds of 30 mph
over long distances and have been timed achieving 70 mph.
11. Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii)—pale gray-brown with rust-colored
patches on the throat and chest. This cottontail requires an adequate density of
shrubs and small trees as cover from predators.
Setting—Moosehead Mountain, north of Rangely
Sagebrush Shrublands
Indian
Paintbrush
About 27 miles southwest of Craig in northwestern Colorado, nestled between the Yampa
River and Highway 13, lie the rolling sagebrushcovered ridges of the Axial Basin. The Axial Basin
and much of the Yampa River region comprise an
ecosystem defined by dry, shrub-covered soils and
few trees - the sagebrush shrublands of Colorado.
Sagebrush shrublands are prevalent in central
and western Colorado, on the Colorado Plateau, and
in the Gunnison River and Colorado River basins.
Examples of this ecosystem can also be seen in
Middle and North Park, and in the San Luis Valley
between Villa Grove and Saguache.
High and Dry
The sagebrush shrubland ecosystem is sometimes referred to as Colorado’s cool, high desert.
Occurring above grassland at approximately 5,000 to
10,000 feet, sagebrush shrublands usually receive less
than ten inches of precipitation annually, making
them the driest of all Colorado’s major ecosystems.
Most precipitation falls as winter snow, and the small
amount of summer rain that does fall evaporates
quickly. Temperatures are very high in the summer
and sub-zero in the winter. The soils are poor, either
very alkaline or very acidic, and drain water
rapidly.
Trees, with more demanding water
requirements, are not suited for this
ecosystem. Woody vegetation is
largely in the form of shrubs and
brush, which can handle the wide
temperature swings, alkaline soils,
and the lack of moisture. Some
common species include sagebrush,
yellow-flowered rabbitbrush, antelope brush or bitterbrush, greasewood,
shadscale, and four-winged saltbush.
Several beautiful flowers grow well
in the dry soils of sagebrush country.
Scarlet or skyrocket gilia, with its
trumpet shaped scarlet flowers, is a
biennial that adapts to the dry conditions
by spreading its growth over two years.
During the first summer, the plant
develops its rosette of leaves, then adds
a flower stalk the following growing
season. Sulfur flower, another common plant,
is also known as the umbrella plant because its
small yellow flowers develop at the end of leafless stalks in a circular, spoke-like pattern.
Indian paintbrush, whose red-orange flowers brighten
the landscape, is a partial parasite. It survives by
extending its roots into the roots of other plants and
drawing off moisture and nutrition.
Sagebrush, Designed for the
West
Sagebrush, with its silvery gray-green
leaves, dominates this ecosystem. The
most pervasive plant in western
Colorado, sagebrush is not related to
the culinary species, but is a member
of the sunflower family. Still, the
three-lobed leaves emit a distinct
sage-like odor when crushed or dampened by rain. Several species of sagebrush
have adapted to the harsh conditions and
poor soils found in this region, including
big sagebrush, black sagebrush, and
mountain sagebrush. Big sagebrush is
the most common. Standing two to
nearly ten feet tall, this shrub looks a bit
like a small, twisted tree with dark,
shredded bark.
Tailor made for survival in a
windy, arid environment, all
species of sagebrush have unique
root systems, with widespread,
shallow roots that quickly trap rainwater from a brief storm, and longer roots
that search deeper down for water. Sagebrush
Sagebrush
16
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
retains water because its narrow leaves expose only a
minimum evaporating surface to the sun. The fine,
silky hairs that cover the leaves counter the drying
force of the wind. As sagebrush leaves drop and
decay, they emit a toxic compound in the soil that
acts as a herbicide, preventing other vegetation
from taking root, thereby reducing competition
for water and soil nutrients.
Ord’s Kangaroo Rat
Wildlife You Might Discover in the
Sagebrush Shrublands
For a seemingly harsh climate, sagebrush
shrublands support a surprising variety of wildlife.
The sagebrush provides shade, shelter, nest sites,
and dens for a variety of small animals. Collared
lizards, side-blotched lizards, sagebrush lizards,
western rattlesnakes and bullsnakes are some of the
reptiles associated with sagebrush. On summer
evenings, the California myotis, a small, pale-colored
bat, leaves its roost in the sagebrush to feed on flies,
moths, and spiders. Mexican woodrats, deer mice,
and sagebrush voles also forage at night. So does
Ord’s kangaroo rat, a small rat with a long tail that
hops around on its two hind legs. Black-tailed
jackrabbits are more active during the daylight hours,
browsing on flowering plants and shrubs. Ferruginous
and red-tailed hawks feed on white-tailed and
Gunnison prairie dogs and other rodents. Other predators such as owls, coyotes, and gray fox actively
roam the sagebrush for prey. Large mammals such as
mule deer, elk and pronghorn supplement
their diet with a wide variety of plants
in this region.
Many bird species are
closely associated with
sagebrush habitat.
Among these
are the sage
grouse, sage
sparrow and
sage
thrasher.
Male sage
Collared Lizard
sparrows
have the
unique behavior of walking in line, side by
side, to mark the shared boundary of their
territories.
Other common birds are the scrub jay and the
horned lark, named for the small black tufts of
feathers on the back of its head. The male horned
lark courts the female with impressive aerial displays,
soaring high, then circling and diving.
A Closer Look at One Species:
Gunnison Sage Grouse
In 1977, Dr. Clait Braun, formerly with the
Colorado Division of Wildlife, noticed that sage
grouse wings collected in the Gunnison Basin of
southwestern Colorado were smaller than sage grouse
wings collected in northern Colorado. He also noted
that these grouse were one-third smaller than the
northern sage grouse, and the males had more distinct, whiter tail feathers and more elaborate filoplume feathers on their necks. For over two
decades, Dr. Braun and other researchers, most
notably Dr. Jessica Young of Western State
College, studied the morphological (physical
form and structure), behavioral, and genetic differences between Colorado’s sage grouse and
made an exciting discovery. The sage grouse from
southwestern Colorado was a distinct species! This
was the first time in decades that a new species of
bird was described in the continental United States.
Unlike new species discoveries in remote parts
of the globe, the Gunnison sage grouse, named for
the area of Colorado where it is found, has been in
plain view all along. Traditionally hunted as a game
bird, viewed by bird-watchers, and heard at sunrise
every spring as part of one of the avian world’s oddest
courtship rituals, the Gunnison sage grouse had long
been assumed to be the same species as the related
northern sage grouse. What was the conclusive evidence that the Gunnison sage grouse was not just a
subspecies, but a species in its own right?
Taxonomists (scientists who classify organisms)
acknowledge that the process of deciding when an
organism constitutes a separate species can some-
SAGEBRUSH SHRUBLANDS
17
times be a judgment call. In the past, physically distinct but closely related animals have either been
“lumped” into one species, with each form classified
as a subspecies, or “split” into two species. But the
scientists that have reviewed this case agree this bird
is clearly a different species. The Gunnison sage
grouse does not interbreed with the northern sage
grouse; the two are strikingly different in both appearance and behavior; and detailed studies of the two
groups’ DNA showed that they were far too distantly
related to be considered the same species.
All species of male sage grouse are equipped
with air sacs on their breasts, which they use to
attract females each spring. Males position themselves in the center of their strutting grounds, called
leks, and commence with their mating rituals. The
mating call that male sage grouse make with their air
sacs is audible a mile or more away, and has been
Gunnison Sage Grouse
compared to the sound of bubbles, or gulps, underwater. The superiority (as determined by other
grouse) of the male’s call and the vigor and quality of
the rapid head shaking, strutting dance that accompanies it, determine its position in the lek. Dominant
males occupy the center of the lek and win the
opportunity to breed with the majority of females.
When Dr. Young listened to and analyzed hundreds of tapes of northern sage grouse as part of a
biology project, she noticed different vocal patterns
on tapes of sage grouse from the Gunnison Basin.
While northern sage grouse consistently pop their air
sacs twice in each of the many brief strut displays
they perform, the Gunnison birds pop their air sacs
nine times, and the sounds they produced are
notably deeper. She went to the leks to study the
entire mating ritual. Male sage grouse in both the
Gunnison and northern areas had a highly elaborate
strut display that began with males taking a few
steps, then raising their wings, brushing them twice
against the stiff feathers of the pouch to make
swishing noises to accompany the mating calls. She
noted that sage grouse in Gunnison had fewer displays per minute and would also throw their filoplumes over their head and wag their tail at the end
of their display.
Dr. Young’s research on the behavioral differences of the sage grouse, along with Dr. Braun’s documentation of morphological differences, led to
analysis of the birds’ genetics in 1999. The DNA
studies, by Dr. Tom Quinn and Dr. Sara OylerMcCance of Denver University, provided
definitive evidence that the two groups were
separate species.
Crossroads of Biodiversity—
Sagebrush Shrublands
The kit fox is one of many
mammal species found in Colorado that
originated in the semi-arid highlands of
the Chihuahua region of northern
Mexico. The sagebrush shrublands of
western Colorado represent the northeastern limit of its range. This small fox,
weighing only three to six pounds, competes for prey with larger predators and
two other species of fox, the red fox and
the gray fox. The kit fox is classified as
state endangered, which means it is in
jeopardy of becoming extinct in Colorado.
Kit fox closely resemble a species found on
the eastern plains of Colorado, the swift fox, but
they do not interbreed and have distinctly different habitat requirements. Kit fox have long,
18
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
black-tipped, bushy tails and yellowish to gray, grizzled coats. Researchers have only found 47 kit foxes
in Colorado, in one small area near Delta, and
believe their statewide population is less than 100.
Once classified as a furbearer (animal with marketable fur) that could be legally harvested, the kit
fox has been protected in Colorado since 1994.
Kit fox prey mainly on cottontail rabbits, jackrabbits, and kangaroo rats, but will also eat birds, reptiles, and insects. They spend most of the day in
their dens, and move from one den to the other while
pursuing prey at night.
Kit fox must avoid their
main predator, the
coyote, as they hunt.
Other causes of kit fox
mortality are habitat
loss and road kill.
In contrast to the kit fox, the red fox has the
widest distribution of any carnivore in North
America. This fox has three color phases—red, cross,
and silver—and is found in every ecosystem in
Colorado. Its ears are pointed and erect, and its feet,
nose and backs of the ears are typically black. All red
fox, no matter the color phase, have a white tip on
their tail. In general, red foxes are opportunistic and
will eat whatever is available, but are particularly
adept at taking ground-nesting birds and their eggs.
Gray foxes are found along the foothills and in
southeastern Colorado, as well as in the sagebrush
shrublands. They are shorter and stockier than the
red fox, with relatively short ears and muzzle. Their
bodies are grizzled gray on the top with whitish
bellies. The ears, neck, and legs are reddish buff.
Like the kit fox, they prefer rabbits as prey, but in
general are more omnivorous, including berries, nuts,
and insects in their diet. While little is really known
about the impacts of kit fox and gray fox populations
on each other, similar habitat preferences
suggest that the species may limit one
another’s distribution.
Kit Fox
Table of Contents
SAGEBRUSH SHRUBLANDS
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10
1
17
2
18
12
14
13
16
11
9
15
3
4
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
8
6
7
5
20
M O N TA N E S H R U B L A N D S
21
Black-billed Magpie (Pica pica)—identified by its black and white coloring and
long tail, prefers lightly treed, cool, dry habitats. The magpie is the ultimate generalist, with a diet that includes fruit, berries, seeds, insects, worms, garbage, carrion,
birds’ eggs and hatchlings.
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)—small duck preferring wetlands and riparian
habitats along the Front Range and higher mountain parks. Flocks of these iridescent-green-winged birds can often be seen in low, seemingly erratic flight, twisting
and turning as a single unit.
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)—identified by a white chinstrap on an otherwise black head and neck. This once uncommon species is now numerous in many
of the state’s riparian areas and valleys, especially along the northern Front Range.
Common Raven (Corvus corax)—similar in appearance to the American Crow
(C. brachyrhynchos), but is larger and has a more massive bill. Ravens engage in elaborate aerial courtship displays.
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)—distinguished by its large ear tufts and
found at all but the highest elevations, has the widest distribution of any North
American owl. The distinctive hooting calls of this nocturnal owl are heard
throughout the year, especially in late winter when they begin to nest.
Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)—identified by its prominent head crest and deep
blue wings and tail. This jay is opportunistic when searching for food, often taking
advantage of unguarded offerings at campgrounds and picnic areas.
Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)—of the two Colorado subspecies, the native
Merriam’s turkey is found in the lower montane. Sociable birds often seen in large
flocks, the familiar fanning of the tail is a courtship display done by the male while
strutting and “gobbling”.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Colorado Chipmunk (Tamias quadrivittatus)—common chipmunk of southern
Colorado up to 10,500 feet and the Front Range below 7,000 feet. This chipmunk
feeds on seeds, berries, and flowers of a wide variety of plants, often ascending to
the tops of trees in search of food.
10. Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)—the most widespread carnivore in the world, in Colorado
may range in color from red to black, but always with a white-tipped tail. This fox’s
hearing is sensitive to low-frequency sounds, enabling it to hear the underground
activities of its burrowing prey.
9.
Mammals
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)—adults identified by size and distinctive shape
in the air and in water, have black streak over the eye and, in breeding adults,
head, neck, and back plumes. The largest heron in the U.S., and the most widespread, this four-foot tall bird can often be seen wading or slowly walking through
shallow water in search of food.
1.
Birds
18. Gambel Oak (Quercus gambelii)—also called Scrub Oak. In addition to black bear,
elk and deer, birds such as black-capped chickadees, spotted towhees, and scrub
jays find food in the oak’s foliage and acorns, or in the insects that are attracted to
the oak.
17. Rocky Mountain Juniper (Sabina scopulorum)—abundant at higher, cooler, wetter
elevations in Colorado. Sometimes called red cedar for the reddish-brown color of
its bark, this juniper produces small bluish berries that are a favorite food of rock
squirrels, Colorado chipmunks, and other montane residents.
16. Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)—the defining tree of the lower montane, especially the eastern foothills. This pine has the longest needles of any Colorado
conifer and prefers south-facing slopes and warm unshaded soil for re-growth.
Trees
15. Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus)—widespread, tall shrub, whose seeds
have the ability to bore themselves into the ground. Native Americans used mountain mahogany to make arrow shafts, dyes, and a medicinal laxative.
Shrub
14. Bullsnake/Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer)—a crucial predator of rodents,
found throughout Colorado in almost all habitats below 8,000 feet. While the
name “gopher” snake reflects its excellent burrowing ability in search of gophers
and other small mammals, it is also adept at climbing trees in search of birds and
bird eggs.
Reptile
13. Mountain Lion (Felis concolor)—feeds principally on deer, but also elk and smaller
game over a home range of up to 500 square miles. These lions are distributed
from Canada to Argentina, and in Colorado are found primarily in foothills,
canyons, shrublands, and piñon-juniper woodlands.
12. Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)—inhabit all of Colorado’s ecosystems from grasslands to tundra. Named for the large ears, these deer have white tails tipped with
black and scent glands above the back hooves.
11. Abert’s Squirrel (Sciurus aberti)—closely associated with ponderosa pine forests of
southern Colorado and the Front Range where they are typically dark gray or
black; identified by conspicuous tassels, or tufts of hair, on the ears. These squirrels build their nests in favorite ponderosas and utilize the inner bark, seeds, twigs,
buds and cones of the trees as their principal food sources.
Setting—Between Roxborough State Park and Deer Creek Canyon
Open Space, west of Littleton
Montane Shrublands
Southwest of Denver and northwest of Castle
Rock, is Roxborough State Park, an excellent
example of the montane shrubland ecosystem.
Roxborough State Park is representative of the
narrow band of montane shrubland found on the
eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains.
Larger expanses of montane shrubland
are found at similar elevations, from
5,500 to 10,000 feet, on the western
slope. Montane shrublands represent
a transitional zone between grasslands
and montane forest.
Gambel
Oak
A Veritable Smorgasbord of
Nuts, Berries and Browse
Usually found on dry, rocky foothill sites,
montane shrublands have a mix of vegetation, from
grasses to scattered piñon or ponderosa pine trees.
These areas get about the same yearly precipitation
as the grasslands, but their coarse soils do not retain
the water for long. Typically, the plants that do best
in this ecosystem are shrubs that hold onto moisture
during long dry spells.
Mountain mahogany, a shrub that grows up to
eight feet tall, is the dominant plant on the east slope
foothills. Mountain mahogany is highly tolerant of
heat and drought. It is very long-lived, averaging 85
years, with some as old as 1,350 years! A ragged
looking plant with greenish-gray leaves covered with
soft fuzzy hairs on top and bottom to prevent water
loss, mountain mahogany has self-planting seeds.
Each seed is equipped with a
long, curved, hairy “tail” that
Mountain Mahogany
Self-planting
seeds
22
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
allows the sharp pointed seed tip to float to the
ground first. As the humidity changes, the “tail” curls
and uncurls, driving the seed into the ground like a
drill. Mountain mahogany is one of the few browse
species that meets or exceeds protein requirements
for wintering deer and elk.
Gambel oak is another important plant in the
montane shrubland. It is scattered among mountain
mahogany on the southern Front Range foothills, but
is dominant and widespread on western slope shrublands. Along with sumac and serviceberry, other
deciduous shrubs whose leaves turn red and orange
before being dropped, it adds to Colorado’s beautiful
fall color display. Sometimes called scrub oak,
Gambel oak is able to survive in this dry, rocky environment because many of these tall tree-like shrubs
sprout from a common root system. This extended
horizontal root system efficiently captures the limited
rainfall of the lower mountainsides. Gambel oak
acorns are rich in nutrients and soft enough to be
eaten by almost any animal.
In addition to nutritious mountain mahogany and
Gambel oak, a variety of plants in this ecosystem
produce a bountiful supply of berries and fruits.
Kinnikinnik, a low plant with dark green leaves, produces bright red berries that are an important wildlife
food. Skunkbush, or three-leaved sumac, produces
tart orange and red berries that were once used to
make a lemon-tasting drink. The fruits, or rose hips,
of the wild or Wood’s rose are an important winter
crop for many animals. Wild gooseberries, raspberries, currants, and other fruit-bearing shrubs add to
this ecosystem’s reputation as a cornucopia for
wildlife.
Wildlife You Might Discover in the
Montane Shrublands
In an ecosystem filled with seeds, acorns, and
berries, its not surprising that mice, chipmunks,
ground squirrels, and other rodents are abundant—on
the ground, in trees, and among rocks. Cottontail
rabbits, which find shelter and cover from predators
underneath the shrubs, feed on green leafy vegetation when it is available, and browse on buds, twigs,
and bark in the wintertime. Deer, elk, raccoons, and
black bear spend a lot of time foraging in this region.
Cottontail Rabbit
Eastern fence lizards and northern side-blotched
lizards might sun themselves on rocks or search for
insects under shrubs. An unusual lizard, the plateau
striped whiptail, can be found in the montane shrublands in western Colorado. This species is unisexual—all are egg-laying females!
An abundance of prey species attracts an abundance of predators. Golden eagles, and Swainson’s,
red-tailed and sharp-shinned hawks cruise on thermals common along the foothills looking for their
next meal. Western rattlesnakes and bullsnakes
invade rodent burrows and eat their fill. Gray and red
fox, bobcats, skunks, weasels, and coyotes hunt
rodents and reptiles, while mountain lion pursue
their preferred diet of deer.
The wealth of seeds, insects, and nest sites
attracts many birds to this ecosystem. Scrub jays,
distinguished from other jays by their lack of a
crest, their blue collar and the brownish patch
on their back, are common in montane shrublands. One of the survival adaptations of this
species is cooperative breeding, in which
the previous years’ offspring help the
parents raise the new brood. These
“helpers” assist in essential activities
such as defending the nesting site,
repelling predators, and feeding the
young. Indigo and lazuli buntings, western tanagers,
black-headed grosbeaks, spotted towhees, dusky flycatchers and Virginia’s warblers are also common in
the montane shrublands.
A Closer Look at One Species—
Merriam’s Turkey
The belt of shrubs and oak below the ponderosa
pines provides both food and cover for Merriam’s
turkey, one of five subspecies of North American
wild turkey. Merriam’s turkey is a Colorado native,
and is distinguished from an introduced subspecies,
the Rio Grande turkey, by both its habitat preference
and by the nearly white feathers on the lower back
and tail feather margins. Merriam’s turkeys forage in
the montane shrubland for leaves, seeds, nuts, and
lots of insects. Wild turkeys are wary birds, with keen
eyesight and hearing, and they move toward cover at
the slightest indication of danger. They rarely stray
far from the ponderosa pines that provide safety from
predators and nighttime roost sites.
Merriam’s turkeys stand about 37 to 46 inches in
height, with males larger than females. Males are
more colorful, with iridescent feathers, glittering in
varying colors of red, green, copper, bronze and gold.
Females’ feathers are a more drab brown, to blend in
with the surroundings. Both sexes have naked heads,
but the males (toms) have deep blue and red colored
skin with loose red throat skin known as “wattles.”
Two other major characteristics that distinguish
the sexes are spurs and beards. When both male and
female wild turkeys hatch, they have a small button
spur on the back of their legs.
The males’ spurs begin
to grow and curve,
Merriam’s Turkey
M O N TA N E S H R U B L A N D S
23
often reaching a length of two inches, while the
females’ spurs seldom develop. Males also have
beards—tufts of modified feathers—that grow out
from their chests. These beards average about nine
inches in length, but can grow much longer. A small
percentage of females (hens) also develop beards.
During the winter, turkeys flock together in
mixed-sex groups. Sometime between February and
April, as the breeding season approaches, the flocks
break up into smaller all-male or all-female groups.
Later, the male flocks disperse, and males begin to
gobble and strut to attract hens. Hens respond with a
yelping call. Males may breed with many females.
Females are solely responsible for raising the young.
Hens lay nine to twelve eggs in a shallow scrape and
frequently dump eggs in each other’s nests. Females
incubate the eggs for about four weeks. Precocial
young hatch with fully formed feathers, eyes open,
and the ability to move about. They leave the nest
within a day of hatching to feed, but roost close to
the hen for the first few days.
Merriam’s turkey is the state’s largest game
bird, a wildlife species that can be hunted
according to legal seasons and limits. Current
populations of these birds exceed historic levels,
but that was not always the case. During the
1800’s, both in Colorado and
nationwide, commercial
slaughter for meat and
Mule Deer
feathers, habitat destruction, and disease decimated
wild turkey populations. In
the 1920’s, only 250–500
Merriam’s turkeys remained in
the state, and fewer than 30,000
wild turkeys remained in the entire
country. Public concern for the turkey,
along with remarkable commitment
from the nation’s hunters, wildlife
agencies and wildlife conservation
organizations, brought this grand bird
back from the brink of extinction.
The most important event in this
recovery effort was the 1937 passage of the
Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act. Also
known as the Pittman-Robertson Act, this legislation placed an excise tax on firearms,
ammunition, and other hunting equipment.
Lobbied for and supported by sportsmen, this
tax has raised billions of dollars for wildlife
restoration. With extensive transplant efforts, habitat
improvement projects, and protection through game
laws, Colorado’s wild turkey population has grown to
an estimated 20,000 to 24,000 birds.
24
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
Crossroads of Biodiversity—Montane
Shrublands
The montane shrublands are a mid-elevation
melting pot where many species mingle. Three of
Colorado’s four antlered mammals, elk, mule deer,
and white-tailed deer,
can commonly be
seen here. The
descriptions that
American Elk
follow can help a
viewer identify
each of the three
antlered species
that frequent this ecosystem.
In these species, the males have antlers
that they shed annually in late winter. The
antlers are bone and are re-grown each year,
nourished by a blood-engorged, finely
haired skin called velvet. When the antlers
are fully developed and hardened, the velvet
is shed or scraped off. For deer, elk, and moose,
antlers reflect the social position of males in the population and are important for
courtship displays. Antlers,
more often than not,
provide a deterrent from
male to male combat for
mating privileges.
Mule deer are found
statewide in all ecosystems, but especially
favor shrublands,
montane forests, and
piñon-juniper woodlands in the winter.
Named for their large
ears that seem constantly in motion, mule deer are
primarily browsers. Mule deer have a white tail that
is tipped in black. They run with a stiff-legged gait,
with back legs, then front legs moving together. The
bucks’ (male deer) antlers branch equally, forking
into two tines, four tines, or more. Young males have
either single spikes or a single fork near the tip of the
antlers.
White-tailed deer historically have occupied
riparian lands, woods, and farmlands of the eastern
U.S. where they can get the highly nutritious foods
that they prefer. With agricultural development on
Colorado’s eastern plains, white-tailed deer have
expanded their range, and now can be found utilizing
both the montane shrublands and riparian
areas all along the front range and in
select areas west of the
White-tailed
Continental Divide. The whiteDeer
tailed deer has a brown tail,
edged with white, but completely white on the underside.
When alarmed, this deer raises,
or “flags,” its tail to communicate danger to other deer. Like mule
deer, white-tailed deer also snort and
stamp their hooves to convey danger.
These deer are graceful runners and strong
swimmers, and can go across large bodies of
water. Male white-tailed antlers have
several tines that come up from the main
shaft.
Often seen in herds on the montane
shrublands in winter, elk are much larger
than deer. They generally have a pale tan or brown
body color, with a darker mane of longer hairs on the
neck and a paler yellowish tan rump patch. The
bulls (male elk) have large antlers, with a main beam
extending backward over the neck and shoulders.
Several tines or points arise from the main beam.
Living With Wildlife in Colorado’s
Foothills
For people as well as wildlife, montane shrublands are a desirable place to live. Often, people
move to the foothills to experience a closer connection to the wild places and wildlife found there. As
communities along the foothills grow, habitat is
changed and some wildlife is displaced. Some species
continue to live in open space areas, parks, river
bottoms, and undeveloped parcels of land. Others
adapt to urban living. As humans and wildlife adjust
to the changes, their relationship is fraught with both
promise and pitfalls. Finches and buntings at the bird
feeder are a delightful sight—bears at the same
feeder are not. By and large, people and wildlife can
coexist, if people are alert to the needs and habits of
their wild neighbors.
For many species, particularly large grazers and
browsers such as deer and elk, subdivisions and roads
may block traditional migration routes between
summer and winter range. The number of places
where deer and elk can move from mountains to lowlands has been squeezed, like going through a
funnel. Deer-crossing signs mark many of these
areas, and it is essential that drivers slow down and
proceed cautiously, especially at night.
It is also common for deer and elk to browse
gardens, trees and shrubs. Not only is
this costly and annoying, but deer
and elk attract predators, such as
mountain lions and coyotes, who
also eat pets and domestic
livestock. Property owners
can plant species that are
distasteful to deer, use
commercial repellents and
use fencing to avoid these
problems.
Pets can be exceptionally challenging for wildlife.
Dogs, when left to roam,
may form packs and harass or kill
wildlife. A pack of dogs—well fed or
not—often kill or mutilate deer and domestic
livestock. Dogs and cats left unattended—even in a
fenced yard—serve as potential food for coyotes and
mountain lions. Cats commonly prey on small,
ground-dwelling wildlife and birds. They can be
especially damaging during the spring bird-nesting
season. It is vital that individuals are responsible pet
owners, obey leash laws, and keep dogs and cats
under control.
Litter and trash are also problematic. Litter can
injure or kill wildlife, particularly birds. Careless handling of trash and pet food can attract bears, raccoons,
squirrels, skunks and other species that most people
would prefer to keep at a distance! Pet food should
be stored inside. Unless bear-proof trash cans are
used, trash should not be put outside until right
before pick up.
Finally, people must respect the wildness of
wildlife. Many dangerous and potentially harmful
encounters occur because people fail to leave wild
animals alone. Wildlife should not be harassed, captured, domesticated, or—in most cases—fed.
Intentional or inadvertent feeding is a cause of a
number of wildlife problems. Wildlife habituated to
feeding may injure someone in their eagerness to get
food. Animals congregating unnaturally to feed may
pass diseases to one another. People should not
approach sick, injured or even young animals that
appear to be abandoned. Such cases should be
reported to the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Acting responsibly, people can enjoy the wildlife
they see in the montane shrublands!
Table of Contents
M O N TA N E S H R U B L A N D S
25
8
11
16
7
14
3
17
2
10
9
4
5
15
18
12
13
6
1
26
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
PIÑON-JUNIPER WOODLAND
27
Western Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica)—inhabits open shrublands and
woodlands between 5,000–7,000 feet. These sky blue-colored jays are usually
found in pairs occupying fixed territories.
Northern Pigmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma)—an aggressive diurnal hunter, noisier
in flight than most nocturnal owls, preys on rodents and birds, some larger than
itself. On the back of the head, this owl displays two dark eye-like patches
rimmed in white.
Common Raven (Corvus corax)—distinguished from the all-black American
Crow (C. brachyrhynchos) by its larger size and more massive bill. Male ravens
engage in elaborate aeronautical courtship displays.
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)—distinguished by its large ear tufts and
found at all but the highest elevations, has the widest distribution of any North
American owl. The distinctive hooting calls of this nocturnal owl are heard
throughout the year, especially in late winter when they begin to nest.
Juniper Titmouse (Baeolophus ridgewayi)—formerly known as the plain titmouse, grayish bird with a small head crest. As part of the courtship ritual, males
offer food to females who in turn vibrate their wings and produce high-pitched
vocalizations in acceptance.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)—identified by a black “mane” running
along its tail, ending in a black tip. Omnivorous and primarily nocturnal, this fox
is also an excellent tree climber.
Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus)—a nocturnal member of the raccoon family with a
body like a cat, a face like a fox, and a long tail with black circles. Ringtails are
excellent mousers, and were kept by early settlers for that very purpose, hence
their nickname, “miner’s cat.”
8.
9.
10. Mexican Woodrat (Neotoma mexicana)—has a noticeably bi-colored tail, dark on
top and light below, and feeds largely on piñon nuts and juniper berries in this
ecosystem. In addition to using vegetation in constructing the nest, this woodrat
adds debris such as bones and feathers.
Mountain Lion (Felis concolor)—feeds principally on deer, but also elk and
smaller game over a home range of up to 500 square miles. These lions are distributed from Canada to Argentina, and in Colorado are found primarily in
foothills, canyons, shrublands, and piñon-juniper woodlands.
7.
Mammals
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)—most widespread hawk in Colorado, especially numerous in piñon-juniper woodlands and winter grasslands, but occurring
year-round from grassland to tundra. In addition to rodents such as prairie dogs,
these hawks prey upon reptiles and rabbits.
1.
Birds
18. Utah Juniper (Sabina utahensis)—distinguished from the One-seed juniper
(S. monosperma) of south central Colorado by having drier and grittier
berries/cones and by having a less tapered, more irregular crown. Unlike
Oneseed juniper, whose individuals are of either sex, the Utah Juniper usually
has both male flowers and female berries on the same tree.
17. Piñon Pine (Pinus edulis)—defining tree of the piñon-juniper woodland, cones
contain large pine nuts which are eaten by a variety of animals, including
humans. In addition to food, this tree provided Native Americans and settlers
with firewood and building material needed for furniture, shelter, and household
items.
Trees
16. Yucca (Yucca glauca)—prefers dry slopes and hillsides. The pod-like fruit of the
yucca grows along a tall stalk, while the leaves, long, thin and sharp, radiate from
the base.
15. Mormon Tea (Ephedra viridis)—identified by greenish, leafless, jointed stems,
found in rocky areas and canyons. Also known as Cowboy Tea, this plant was
used by Native Americans and settlers to make a palatable drink.
Plants
14. Striped Whipsnake (Masticophis taeniatus)—identified by a whitish stripe
running along each side. Found only in the western Colorado, this snake is a
speedy predator that preys upon other snakes including smaller whipsnakes, in
addition to insects, lizards, and rodents.
13. Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus collaris)—can be identified by a yellowish head
and black bands around the neck. To escape danger, the collared lizard has the
interesting habit of getting up on its hind legs and running away.
Reptiles
12. Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)—inhabit all of Colorado’s ecosystems from
grasslands to tundra. Named for the large ears, these deer have white tails
tipped with black and scent glands above the back hooves.
11. Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii)—pale gray-brown with rust-colored
patches on the throat and chest. Capable of light climbing and swimming, this
cottontail requires an adequate density of shrubs and small trees as cover from
predators.
Setting—Near Mesa Verde National Park, near Mancos
Piñon-Juniper Woodland
The Colorado National Monument is located
other Colorado trees. Piñon is more cold tolerant, and
west of Grand Junction and south of Fruita. This
prevails at the higher, wetter elevations. The more
scenic viewing area, overlooking the Grand Valley, is
drought-tolerant juniper is favored at lower, drier sites.
an excellent example of a piñon-juniper woodland
The piñon pine has short one to two-inch-long
ecosystem.
needles grouped in bundles of two (and rarely three),
Piñon-juniper woodlands lie in the transition
with small two-inch cones bearing large, edible seeds.
zone between grasslands or shrublands and lower
While piñons can reach heights of fifty feet, periodic
montane forest, at elevations from 5,000–7,000 feet.
They are primarily found in the western part of our
state, and in central Colorado south of Colorado
Springs. Another piñon-juniper woodland is found in
the “Four Corners” area, where the borders of
Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico come
together. Interestingly, there is one isolated
stand of piñon-juniper woodland in Owl
Canyon, north of Fort Collins, over 100 miles
from any other stands! This may be a relict
stand from an earlier climate condition—no one
knows for sure.
Utah or One-seed
Juniper
The Pygmy Forest
Piñon-juniper woodlands receive approximately
10–20 inches of precipitation each year. The water
sinks quickly down through the gravelly soils, discouraging the growth of grasses, and favoring the
deeper roots of trees. The result is a landscape of
short, evenly spaced trees separated by open areas
relatively free of vegetation; a landscape sometimes
referred to as the pygmy forest.
This ecosystem flaunts a variety of small trees
including Gambel (scrub) oak, Douglas fir and mountain mahogany, but the predominant trees are the
piñon pine and either the Utah or one-seed
juniper. Piñon pine and juniper require
less water for survival than any
droughts usually limit the trees’ growth
to heights of thirty feet or less, giving them their
stunted, gnarly look.
The Utah juniper occurs in western slope piñonjuniper woodlands, while the one-seed prevails in the
woodlands of south central Colorado. Juniper leaves
on both varieties appear as tiny, overlapping scales
along the branches, giving the tree a unique and easily
identifiable appearance. The bluish-gray or purplish
berries are actually modified cones in which a few
fleshy scales enclose a seed. Foliage color and berries
distinguish the two. The berries of the yellow-green
Utah juniper are dryer than the juicier berries of the
gray-green one-seed. Utah junipers usually have both
male and female cones, while one-seed juniper trees
are single gender, with the females possessing the
larger, berry-like cones.
While groundcover between trees in
the piñon-juniper woodland is
sparse, there are smatterings
of grasses, shrubs and
flowering plants. Muted
green grasses such
as blue grama,
Junegrass and
Indian ricegrass
are interspersed
with succulent
prickly-pear
Piñon Pine
Prickly-pear Cacti
28
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
cacti and bright yellow sunflowers. Raggedy shrubs
such as the cliff rose, apache plume, and antelope
brush or bitterbrush, provide browse for game animals
that visit the woodlands.
Wildlife You Might
Discover in the
Piñon-Juniper
Woodland
If you visit the piñonjuniper woodland, you may
see large numbers of bluecolored birds pecking at
pinecones to get at the nuts.
These are piñon jays, a yearround resident. In the fall,
jays carry away pine nuts,
which are actually piñon
seeds, and stockpile them for winter
food. Some of the uneaten seeds eventually grow into new trees. In this way, piñon
jays assist in the reproduction of more piñon
trees, which will again provide food for jays.
Elsewhere in the trees you can often spot the
nests of bushtits. These small, gray birds make use
of spiders’ silk to attach their nests to branches.
There may also be ground-nesting birds such as the
canyon towhee and the lark sparrow, identified by its
Ringtail
on the lookout for rodents such as the ever-present
Piñon mouse and the bushy-tailed woodrat. The
woodrat’s nickname of “packrat” is well deserved. If
you leave items lying around your campsite, the
woodrat may make off with them.
The climate of the piñon-juniper is still warm
enough for reptiles. Two lizards you might spot are
the side-blotched lizard and the collared lizard.
The collared lizard is longer and bulkier
than the side-blotched, and can be identified by a yellowish head and the
black bands on the back of the
neck. To escape danger, the
collared lizard has the
interesting habit of
getting up on its
hind legs and
Piñon
running,
Jay
giving the
appearance of
a miniature, carnivorous
dinosaur.
If you are in the piñon-juniper
woodland at night, you may see an
animal with a body like a cat, a face
like a fox, and a long tail with black
circles—a ringtail. This nocturnal member of the
raccoon family walks on its toes, and dens in hollow
tree stumps, logs, and rock crevices. Ringtails are
excellent mousers, and were kept by early settlers for
that very purpose; hence their nickname, “miner’s
cat.”
Large mammals found in the piñon-juniper
woodlands include pronghorn, mule deer, elk, mountain lion and black bear.
Piñon Nuts—The Heart of the Ecosystem
red-brown
cheek patch,
striped crown and
singular breast spot.
You may be fortunate
enough to witness the courting
display of the male lark sparrow as
he circles and struts around the
female. Overhead you may see
red-tailed hawks, golden eagles,
American kestrels, and prairie falcons
Piñon in Spanish means “nut” or “nut
tree.” Many of the species in this
ecosystem depend on these nuts for survival. The nuts provide an ample food
supply for birds and rodents, which in turn
become prey for other species. The high
calorie nuts are also a critical fall food for
black bears, and the presence of a good
crop helps bears gain the necessary
weight they need to survive the winter
and successfully reproduce.
The piñon pine nut was an important
resource for the people who settled here.
Native Americans and early European settlers
depended on the sweet, highly nutritious nuts for
food. The tree also provided firewood and building
material needed for furniture, shelter and household
items. Piñon pitch was used as glue and for waterproofing various domestic items, as well as for
PIÑON-JUNIPER WOODLAND
29
dressing wounds. Today, piñon pine nuts are still a
highly coveted food item and are even harvested
commercially for sale in grocery and specialty shops.
A Closer Look at One Species:
Four-Corners Hantavirus
In 1993, a severe illness appeared in a cluster of
people in the region where Colorado, New Mexico,
Arizona and Utah meet. Studies revealed that these
people had been exposed to deer mouse droppings
and that their symptoms were
similar to those caused by a
group of microorganisms
known collectively as
hantaviruses,
which are
carried by rodents
in other parts of the
world. The virus thought
responsible for the 1993
illness was subsequently given
the name Four-Corners hantavirus, and the sometimes-fatal
illness was called hantavirus
pulmonary syndrome. Since
then, other cases of hantavirus
pulmonary syndrome have
appeared not only in the FourCorners area, but as far away as Canada.
Genetic studies suggest that hantaviruses and
their rodent hosts have an ancient, co-evolutionary
relationship, and that Four-Corners hantavirus did
not emerge from a sudden evolutionary mutation.
Why, then, did hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
seemingly appear out of nowhere?
Scientists noted that during the period
1992–1993, the weather was unusually warm and wet,
with an earlier spring thaw, resulting in an abundance
of the vegetation that makes up the bulk of the deer
mouse’s diet. The result was a tenfold jump in the
deer mouse population. The increased populations of
both mice and humans in this area, along with the
mouse’s attraction for human dwellings, brought
more deer mice and their droppings into close proximity to people.
While research continues, scientists have suggested that the recent occurrences and spread of this
illness may coincide with changing climate and population patterns. Some are using El Niño cycles, which
often bring warmer and wetter weather to the area, to
predict possible outbreaks of hantavirus pulmonary
syndrome. The complex relationship between
weather, microorganisms and their hosts, and human
wellness illustrate the intricate dynamics of biodiversity.
30
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
Crossroads of Biodiversity—
Piñon-Juniper Woodlands
Skunks may not be the most popular of animals.
They have perhaps the most widely known and
despised defense system of any mammal, and even a
picture of the foul smelling scent-spraying omnivore
can trigger a powerful reaction in some people. The
noxious vapor often causes nausea and burns the
eyes and nasal cavities of the unfortunate target.
Skunks are also known to be among the most prevalent carriers of rabies, another put-off to potential fans. Still, skunks are highly
adaptable and resourceful. Besides
eating a vast assortment of insects,
small mammals, fish and reptiles,
they also consume fruits, nuts,
and berries. All of these foods
are abundant in the piñonjuniper woodlands, as are the
old burrows abandoned by
other mammals that
skunks use to den.
Consequently,
three of North
America’s
skunk species
reside in this
ecosystem.
All three
Deer
species exhibit
Mouse
some variation of the
bold black and white
markings that serve as a warning to potential predators. The most common of the three is the striped
skunk. It has black fur with a white stripe that begins
as a triangular shape on the top of its head, forks into
two wide stripes that travel down the sides of the
back, and usually merges again near the base of the
tail. Another white stripe runs from the base of the
snout between the eyes and ends on the forehead.
Because the striped skunk is found throughout the
continental U.S., in nearly every habitat and elevation, this is the pattern that first comes to mind when
the word “skunk” is mentioned.
The western spotted skunk prefers the middle
elevations where piñon-juniper woodlands exist. As
its name implies, the western spotted skunk is found
in the western and southwestern U.S., with
Colorado’s eastern foothills marking the eastern edge
of its range. It is less common and much smaller than
the striped skunk. Its pelt has many broken black
and white stripes of equal width on its upper back
that begin between the ears or just behind them. A
large white patch covers more than half the area
between the western spotted skunk’s eyes. Its tail is
white on the underside for nearly half its length with
an exclusively white tip.
Striped Skunk
except for a few scattered black hairs beneath. It
does not have a white stripe on its head, but does
have a distinguished long, flexible snout.
All skunks utilize delayed implantation, in
which the attachment of the fertilized egg to the
uterine wall is delayed as a survival strategy for lean
times. If food resources are insufficient to raise a
family, the female skunk aborts before investing
much energy in reproduction. Little
is known about hog-nosed
skunk reproduction, but the
other two species have
been studied extensively. Striped skunks
and western spotted
skunks breed at
Hog-nosed
Skunk
Spotted Skunk
Colorado represents
the extreme northern range of the common hognosed skunk, which is not really common in
Colorado. This is a rather large skunk with a single,
broad white stripe from the top of its head to the
base of its long, bushy tail. Its tail is white all over
different times of
the year and delay implantation for different lengths of time. This
may be one way that the two species avoid competition at a critical time and ensure that each can successfully reproduce. This type of survival strategy,
where species restrict their activities to a specific
time period or part of the environment, is called specialization or niche differentiation.
Here’s how it works: male skunks use their
pungent defense odor to communicate with the
opposite sex during mating season and to mark their
territories. It might be troublesome to have two different species spraying at the same time. So, striped
skunks breed in the spring, but implantation of the
eggs is delayed about 19 days, with new litters
arriving usually in late May or early June. The
western spotted skunks mate in early fall, but delay
implantation for nearly six months, giving birth
around the same time as the striped skunk, when
food is plentiful for the young.
Table of Contents
PIÑON-JUNIPER WOODLAND
31
12
16
7
15
17
13
11
18
2
6
8
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
10
3
14
1
9
5
4
32
M O N TA N E F O R E S T S
33
Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus)—favors rocky or broken terrain from grassland
to tundra. The rock wren paves its nest entrance with pebbles and rock pieces,
adding more material if the nest is reused in subsequent years.
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)—gray-headed bird found in the montane
forest. Flocks of these ground-nesting birds tend to return to the same area each
year.
Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus)—identified by dark wing lining seen from
below, and thin, dark cheek bars. Tagged Canada hatchlings have been found in
Colorado in winter.
Black-billed Magpie (Pica pica)—easily identified by its black and white coloring and long tail, prefers lightly treed habitats. The magpie is the ultimate
generalist, with a diet that includes fruit, berries, seeds, insects, worms, garbage,
carrion, birds’ eggs and hatchlings.
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)—common in Colorado’s ponderosa
forests, identified by white underside tinged with reddish brown and dark band
along the crown of the head. This nuthatch is known for caching food in tree
bark and for proceeding headfirst down trees while hunting for insects.
Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)—distinguished by its prominent head crest and
deep blue wings and tail. This jay is opportunistic when searching for food,
often taking advantage of unguarded offerings at campgrounds and picnic areas.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)—can range in color from light brown, even blond,
to black. Black bears are omnivores, whose diet of grasses, forbs, berries, fruits,
acorns, insects, mammals, and carrion varies with the seasons.
9.
10. Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)—inhabit all of Colorado’s ecosystems from
grasslands to tundra. Named for the large ears, these deer have white tails
tipped with black and scent glands above the back hooves.
American Marten (Martes americana)—often called the pine marten, an excellent climber with semi-retractile claws and the ability to rotate the back legs for
a better grip during descent. This weasel-like carnivore preys primarily on voles,
mice, and small squirrels.
8.
Mammals
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)—formerly called the rufous-sided towhee,
recognized by a dark head, brownish sides, and spotted wings. In addition to
eating insects, spiders and lizards, this towhee rakes up vegetable matter by
hopping backwards on the ground.
1.
Birds
18. Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)—the defining tree of the lower montane,
especially the eastern foothills. This pine has the longest needles of any
Colorado conifer and prefers south-facing slopes and warm unshaded soil for regrowth.
Tree
17. Skunkbrush (Rhus trilobata)—found along rocky slopes of the montane shrublands. This plant is known by a variety of common names, including lemonadebush, three-leaf sumac, and polecat bush.
16. Prickly-pear (Opuntia polyacantha)—cactus characterized by flat, green, ovalshaped pads with spikes arranged in regularly spaced bundles. The flowers that
appear in late spring are yellow or reddish in color and up to three inches across.
Plants
15. Sagebrush Lizard (Sceloporus graciosus)—a common species in western
Colorado, identified by two light-colored stripes running down either side of the
back. Males engage in territorial head-bobbing displays.
14. Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum)—banded in red or orange, white and
black, occurs from Colorado’s grasslands to lower montane forests. This constrictor was so-named because it was once thought to be able to milk cows.
Reptiles
13. Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis)—Colorado’s state animal, used on the logo of
the Colorado Division of Wildlife. The sheep’s horns, massive and curled on the
male, shorter on the female, have growth rings that can be used to estimate age.
12. Mexican Woodrat (Neotoma mexicana)—has a noticeably bi-colored tail, dark on
top and light below, and feeds largely on pine cones, acorns, and juniper berries
in this ecosystem. In addition to using vegetation in constructing the nest, this
woodrat adds debris such as bones and feathers.
11. Common Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)—known for quills on the tail and
lower back that are thrust, not thrown, into an adversary. Like the skunk, when
threatened the porcupine may engage in displays such as tooth chattering,
waving the tail with quills erect, and even on occasion issuing a strong scent.
Setting—Above the Big Thompson River, east of Estes Park
Montane Forests
Golden Gate Canyon State Park, easily
accessible from Highway 93 between Golden
and Boulder, is an excellent example of the
montane forest ecosystem.
The word “montane” means mountain.
Montane forests are found on the slopes of the
Rocky Mountains at elevations between 5,500 and
9,000 feet. Some popular sites include the Black
Forest, east of Interstate 25 between Denver and
Colorado Springs, the forests at the very northwestern corner of our state, and a forested area southwest of Grand Junction.
Not surprisingly, the major feature you’ll see in
the montane forest is trees! Ponderosa pines dominate south-facing slopes, while Douglas firs are more
common on moister north-facing slopes and on the
western slope of the Rockies. At lower montane
forest elevations, Rocky Mountain juniper may be
interspersed with ponderosa pine. At higher elevations, lodgepole pine and spruce become more
common. Other trees and shrubs in the montane
forest include aspen, kinnikinnik, and mountain
mahogany.
Ponderosa pines have very long, thin needles
that tend to grow in bundles of two or three toward
the ends of their branches. Douglas fir needles
grow singly along the branches, are shorter than the
ponderosa’s, and are flat. An easy way to remember
the shape of the Douglas fir’s needles is to think,
“flat fir.”
Ponderosa Pine
34
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
Douglas
Fir
The Ponderosa Forest—A Landscape
Forged by Wind and Fire
Warm, downslope winds blow across the
Continental Divide from the west and descend
through the foothills montane forests at speeds sometimes approaching 100 miles per hour. These
“Chinook” winds can warm local temperatures as
much as 60 or 70 degrees Fahrenheit within an hour.
Colorado’s ponderosa pines evolved with these
winds, and have adapted to benefit from them. While
strong winds can break off branches and even blow
down stiffer species of trees, the flexible upper
trunks of the ponderosa sway back and forth in the
wind. These trees have also developed an extensive
lateral root structure that firmly anchors them in the
ground. Rarely will a healthy ponderosa blow down
in normal wind conditions.
Unlike deciduous trees such as maple and
aspen, which shed their leaves every autumn and go
through winter with bare branches, coniferous trees like the ponderosa pine
keep green needles throughout the
year. Like the leaves of deciduous
trees, though, needles on ponderosa
do turn brown and fall
off. They don’t fall
off, however, until
new green needles
have already grown.
As ponderosa
branches grow longer
every year, new
needles appear along
the new growth.
Further back on the
branch, the oldest
needles turn brown
and are shed in high
winds.
Ponderosa pines have evolved to take advantage
web. Female wolf spiders spin large whitish egg sacs
of the periodic fires that were a regular feature of the
at the end of their bodies and carry the eggs around
montane forest prior to modern human settlement.
with them until they hatch. Hatchlings then climb on
Ponderosa do not grow well in the shade, preferring
their mother’s back and ride around until they can
direct sunlight and warmer soils. Ponderosa in dense
fend for themselves.
stands do not receive the nutrients, light, or water
needed for vigorous growth. Periodically, lightningThe Montane Forest through the
caused fires would clear out forest brush and litter, as
Seasons
well as smaller ponderosa and other species of trees.
Colorado’s seasons are on full display in the
The thicker bark of the larger ponderosa withstood
montane forest. The spectacular fall color of
the effects of low and moderate intensity fires and
changing aspen leaves is just one golden example.
the surviving trees thrived in the fire-opened areas.
Look out over the forest on a breezy, sunny day
Due to our recent history of fire suppression, the
right after a snowfall. One after another, great clouds
forests of the lower montane have accumulated high
of snow can be seen falling from
densities of small and medium diameter ponderosa,
swaying branches. A snowfall
along with shade-tolerant
provides a good opportunity to
species that have taken advandiscover how the montane
tage of the ponderosa canopy.
forest helps maintain the
American Elk
As a result of this accumulated
water cycle. Immediately
fuel, most recent wildfires have
after a snowfall, branches
been of sufficient intensity to
are covered in white. But
kill even the largest ponderosa,
the snow and moisture
significantly altering the landdon’t remain there. Some
scape and threatening people
of the moisture returns
and property. Elected officials,
to the
resource managers, and ecologists
are currently considering the best
methods to tackle the issues of forest
management.
Wildlife You Might Discover in
the Montane Forest
The montane forest is the ecosystem
we often associate with some of our state’s
most recognizable big mammals. Mule
deer, named for their large ears, are
common, as are elk. In late summer or early fall,
you might hear the high-pitched “bugling” of a bull
elk as he proclaims his presence to females and competing males. Raccoon, porcupine, deer mice, red
fox, black bear and coyote also make their home in
the montane forest.
Bird species abound. Looking up in the sky, you
may see turkey vultures soaring in lazy circles,
searching for food by smell as well as sight. Below,
ground-dwelling birds such as dark-eyed juncos, gray
with a bit of rust color on their backs, might be
spotted searching for food or protecting their nests.
Closer to eye level, you might glimpse the silent
flight of a great horned owl as it glides below the tree
branches. Black-chinned hummingbirds and mountain chickadees are frequent visitors to area bird
feeders.
The wolf spider is common in the montane
forest, and, like a wolf, hunts for food rather than
waiting for some unsuspecting victim to fall into its
atmosphere directly as water vapor, in a process
called sublimation. Some is taken into the branches
and used by the trees. But, especially if the days following a snowfall are sunny, warmer, and breezy,
much of the snow in the lower montane falls to the
ground, where it is shaded and much of its moisture
allowed to return to the soil. This soil moisture helps
irrigate the forest vegetation and recharge ground
water sources. Some of the snowmelt runs off into
creeks and rivers, helping sustain Colorado’s surface
waters.
In late spring and summer, visitors to the
montane landscape are treated to an abundance of
glorious wildflowers. You may spot the blue and
white colors of our state flower, the Colorado
columbine, in moist low-lying areas. On open slopes
M O N TA N E F O R E S T S
35
and meadows, tall, red orange-colored tips signal a
clump of Indian paintbrush. The purple colors of
penstemons and lupines contrast with the yellows of
the many asters that grow from foothills to subalpine
elevations.
A Closer Look at One Montane Forest
Species
The Abert’s squirrel is associated almost solely
with the montane forest ecosystem. In Colorado, this
squirrel has a gray or black coat, bushy tail, and long
tasseled ears. They make their home among the ponderosa, often singling out an individual tree. They
appear to use taste to select trees with the most
nutritional value.
Abert’s squirrels rely on the ponderosa pine for
food, nesting, and cover. They build their nests high
up in the ponderosa, and eat the cones, buds, and
inner bark of the tree. Although they can consume a
sizeable portion of the entire cone crop in an area,
they do help to distribute ponderosa seeds. Abert’s
squirrels have also been known to eat mistletoe, a
small parasitic plant that can debilitate ponderosa
by attaching to the branches and depriving the
tree of necessary nutrients.
During the mating season of
February and March, you can
often spot several male
squirrels scampering
Abert’s Squirrel
over the
ground and
fallen logs,
chasing after one
female. Young are
usually born in midspring and are on their
own by early summer.
Crossroads of Biodiversity—Colorado’s
Montane Forests
All of Colorado’s eighteen known bat species are
insectivores that consume enormous quantities of
36
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
harmful forest and agricultural pests. A single bat
often consumes half its own weight in flying insects
every night! Over and above their contributions to
pest control, bats are a boon to science and medicine.
Their longevity, disease resistance, ease in ability to
become torpid (lower their metabolic rate), and
sonar capabilities make bats useful in scientific
research. Bats have been used in studies ranging
from the effects of smoking and alcohol consumption, blood cell mechanics, tissue regeneration, aging,
contraception, low-temperature surgical techniques,
to speech pathology and vaccine development.
Montane forests are home to several species of these
important animals. Among the bats that share this
ecosystem are the little brown bat, long-legged
myotis, and the silver-haired bat.
One of the most common species of bat found in
the United States, the little brown bat is quite small,
measuring only a few inches in length and weighing
perhaps no more than half an ounce! The longlegged myotis (“myotis” identifies the “mouseeared” bats) is considerably larger and found only in
the western half of the United States, with Colorado
at the eastern end of its range. The silver-haired bat,
named for the frosted back hairs on its otherwise
black body, is near the southern end of its range in
Colorado.
These montane bat species prefer different
sites in the forest. Little brown bats favor
moist woodlands near streams and ponds for
their habitat, while long-leggeds and silverhaireds choose drier forests. Long-legged bats
roost in caves. Mining has actually increased
habitat for this and other cave-dwelling species,
since Colorado lacks a sufficient amount of
natural caves. The silver-haired is one of the
few bats that prefer to roost in trees rather
than caves. Little brown bats are not too
picky about where they roost, and have been
noted roosting in tree hollows, underneath tree bark,
in or under buildings, bridges or rocks, and in caves.
Bat numbers nationwide have been severely
reduced, due to a variety of factors such as deliberate
killing, vandalism of hibernacula (places where bats
hibernate), disturbance by cave explorers during
hibernation, habitat loss, and agricultural pesticides.
As their value to ecosystems and to humans becomes
better understood, concerted steps are being taken to
conserve bat populations and their habitats. Efforts
are being made to enhance remaining habitat and
protect usable human-made environments. Mines
and natural caves are being closed with entrance
grates that allow access for bats while discouraging
human intrusion and disturbance.
In other areas, residents are being urged to put
up bat boxes to increase roosting opportunities. The
design and placement of bat boxes has changed as
we have learned more about bats. The
old, square, modified bird boxes
hammered to a tree have been discarded as ineffective. Newer bat
boxes are tall, wide and only a few
inches deep. They have baffled
sections inside, are open at the
bottom, and provide a grooved
wood or mesh-covered landing
area. Bat box exteriors are
colored matched to the local
climate (black for coolest to
light brown for hottest),
positioned to receive
a substantial
amount of direct
sunlight, and
placed high
up on poles
or on
Cultural diversity
Cultural diversity describes the richness of
knowledge, beliefs, and traditions within our own
species. Cultures use and value natural resources
in a variety of ways. The Cheyenne who frequented the foothills and mountain parks of
Colorado prior to Euro-American settlement made
good use of many plants and flowers. They used
curly dock, a rust-colored spiral-flowered plant, as
a dye and to treat internal hemorrhaging and
external wounds. Green gentian, also known as
the monument plant or “deers ears,” was used to
treat diarrhea. The tansy yarrow was taken as a
cough and cold remedy. Richardson’s geranium
was a good treatment for nosebleed.
In addition to using plants for medicinal purposes, the Cheyenne obtained
food from such plants as wild strawberry,
gooseberry currant, wild onion, pricklypear cactus, wild licorice, choke cherry,
raspberry, and Indian turnip (scurf pea). All
these plants are still to be found in the montane
forest ecosystem, connecting us with history, and
reminding us of our interconnectedness with
nature and other cultures. Don’t go out and start
eating these or any other plants. Many had to be specially prepared before they could be used safely.
Some human activities that were once considered harmless or even valuable for an appreciation
of nature are now the subject of much debate.
Collecting samples of small animals or shed
Table of Contents
buildings. A great resource for bat information is Bat
Conservation International.
Bats: Myth and Reality
Not so long ago, bats were seen only as something to be feared and eliminated. Being nocturnal
predators, they were associated with darkness. They
were thought to drink human blood, because one
species does feed on blood from mammals. There
was also the justified fear that bats spread rabies, as
can many other mammals. (As with all animals, individuals found lying on the ground or acting strangely
should not be handled.) Among the myths about bats
is that they are blind and can get caught up in
people’s hair. In reality, bats have good eyesight and
are only attracted to the bugs that are attracted to
people. Fortunately, the negative myths about these
wondrous creatures are being dispelled as their
special qualities and beneficial behaviors are more
fully appreciated.
snakeskin and antlers can further wildlife education and perhaps inspire students to pursue
careers in environmental fields. On the other
hand, animals, plants, and organic material are
important components of an ecosystem. In recent
years, large numbers of visitors to montane
meadows have been observed completely
denuding an area of its wildflowers. This can be
harmful because sufficient populations of plants
are necessary to ensure their future viability. The
complex and important debate over the practice of
collecting continues.
M O N TA N E F O R E S T S
37
15
1
2
4
18
19
9
16
8
17
21
3
6
14
5
13
22
7
20
12
10
11
38
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
SUBALPINE FORESTS
39
Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana)—summer resident of Colorado’s open conifer forests.
While their breeding range extends from Texas to Alaska, these tanagers winter in Mexico,
Costa Rica, and along the southern California coast.
Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis)—courts in March in the San Luis Valley before migrating to
northwestern Colorado and points beyond. This tall gray bird, marked with a dark red patch
on the forehead, has benefited from increased protection of the beaver, whose dams make
excellent sites for crane nests.
Clarke’s Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana)—resident of coniferous forests, identified by
white patches along the inner trailing edges of the wings and outer edges of the tail. These
birds collect and cache thousands of pine nuts each year, cracking them open with their bills
or by wedging them into rock crevices.
Blue Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus)—reverse migrates from lower to higher elevations in
winter to feed on conifer needles and buds, spending the worst weather up in spruce and fir
trees. Males, identified by yellow-orange eye combs, inflate reddish neck air sacs to court
females and to amplify their mating “hoots”.
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca)—small duck preferring wetlands and riparian habitats along
the Front Range and higher mountain parks. Flocks of these iridescent-green-winged birds
can often be seen in low, seemingly erratic flight, twisting and turning as a single unit.
Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus)—most numerous in montane shrublands
and forests, but found up to timberline. Females, with greenish backs but lacking the males’
dark red or blackish throat patch, raise the young alone, remaining in the colder valleys while
males roost at warmer elevations.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
American Elk/Wapiti (Cervus elaphus)—common above 5,000 feet. In spring migrating elk
follow the melting snow pack to higher elevations; in winter, snow depth triggers downward
migration.
9.
12. Moose (Alces alces)—largest of the deer family, introduced into Colorado by the DOW in
1978, favors the subalpine forest. Identified by its large size, massive muzzle, and hanging
dewlap, the moose’s antlers spread out and back from the head like opened palms with
extended tines or points.
11. Least Chipmunk (Tamias minimus)—least in size, but greatest in range of any Colorado chipmunk, found from sage shrublands to alpine tundra. This chipmunk, distinguished from
others by its small size and dart-like movements, hibernates over the winter, but wakes periodically to feed on stored food.
10. Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis)—Colorado’s state animal, used on the logo of the Colorado
Division of Wildlife. The sheep’s horns, massive and curled on the male, shorter on the
female, have growth rings that can be used to estimate age.
Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris)—usually brown in color with yellowish undersides and white facial and neck markings. These marmots often crawl on their bellies when
making their way through dense vegetation, leaving a distinctive path in their wake.
8.
Mammals
American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus)—related to the robin; found wherever fast-moving
streams are present. In order to dive, swim, and wade underwater in pursuit of aquatic
insects, the dipper is able to waterproof its dense plumage and seal its nostrils.
1.
Birds
22. Engelmann Spruce (Picea engelmannii)—predominant tree of the subalpine forest, capable of
heights of 100 feet. Engelmann spruce needles are short, thick, curved, and sharp-pointed.
21. Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)—named for the trembling of the leaves in the wind,
the most widely distributed tree in North America. In the subalpine aspen inhabit southfacing, sheltered slopes, but throughout their range they also colonize disturbed sites such as
burn and avalanche areas, sending out sprouts, or suckers, from an extensive underground
root system.
Trees
20. Scarlet Gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata)—also known as the skyrocket or fairy trumpet for its
trumpet-shaped red flowers, biennial found in open woods and fields. Poisonous to humans,
and pollinated in Colorado by hummingbirds and bumblebees, some populations of this gilia
have developed the ability to change colors to attract successive species of pollinators.
19. Paintbrush (Castilleja rhexifolia)—commonly known as the subalpine paintbrush or rosy
paintbrush for its rose-colored flowers. Clusters of these tall plants can often be found in
open meadows of the subalpine forest.
18. Columbine (Aquilegia coerulea)—easily identifiable flower with large, blue sepals and white
petals. Colorado’s state flower can be found from foothills to alpine.
Plants
17. Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarki)—named for the blood-red markings running down the
jaw and under the throat, historically ranged from Montana to New Mexico. Reduced to
about 5% if its historic range, the greenback cutthroat trout (O. c. stomias), Colorado’s state
fish, is currently being restored to many higher-elevation streams and lakes through a cooperative effort of public and private agencies.
Fish
16. Western Terrestrial Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans)—identified by light-colored stripes
on the sides and one down the center of the back. Found in or near aquatic areas throughout
all of Colorado except the northeast grasslands, this snake feeds on a variety of invertebrates
and vertebrates including frogs, toads, lizards and small birds.
15. Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum)—found throughout Colorado where aquatic breeding
areas are accessible. Coloration, influenced by the environment, can range from light bars on
a dark background to dark spots on a light background.
Amphibian and Reptile
14. Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus lateralis)—named for the copper-colored
head and shoulders, with two white stripes bordered by black running down the back. This
ground squirrel, found in the western two-thirds of Colorado, hibernates for about five to
seven months, waking periodically.
13. Black Bear (Ursus americanus)—can range in color from light brown, even blond, to black.
Black bears are omnivores, whose diet of grasses, forbs, berries, fruits, acorns, insects,
mammals, and carrion varies with the seasons.
Setting—Dallas Divide, south of Telluride
Subalpine Forests
Subalpine Fir
Between Walden and Fort Collins, along State
Highway 14, is a high-altitude forest that has been
officially preserved for the people of Colorado. The
Colorado State Forest State Park, ranging between
8,500 to 12,500 feet, encompasses several
ecosystems, from upper montane and high-elevation riparian to alpine tundra. But for most of
its elevation range, the Colorado State Forest is
a landscape of subalpine fir and Engelmann
spruce, the subalpine forest ecosystem.
Cold, Dark and Damp
Subalpine forests begin at about 9,000 feet and
spread upward to about 11,400 feet, where fierce, icy
winds and shallow soils make tree survival impossible. These are the highest, snowiest, and windiest
of Colorado’s forests. The average annual temperature is barely above freezing, 36 degrees Fahrenheit,
with a short growing season of less than two months.
Most precipitation falls as heavy winter snow.
Additional snow is blown down by high winds from
the peaks, and trapped by the narrow, densely
packed trees. Shaded under the tree canopy, the
snow melts slowly, often lasting into summer.
Engelmann
Spruce
The Climax Forest
Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir dominate the subalpine
forest. Always found together,
Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir
are “late successional” trees.
Succession is the natural process by which distinct
plant communities replace previous ones over time.
The climax community is the plant community
at the end point of the successional sequence and it
maintains itself if the environmental conditions stay
the same. In the absence of some major change, the
climax forest of Engelmann spruce and subapline fir
will continually regenerate as a dense, uniform green
40
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
blanket covering most
of Colorado’s higher
slopes. If an aspen
grove or stand of lodgepole pines breaks the
uniform pattern of green, this means there has been
some disturbance in the area. Fire, forest thinning,
avalanche, and other events open the forest and allow
sunlight to sprout “early successional” pioneer
plants such as aspen, grasses, and wildflowers. After
the aspen and lodgepole have established a canopy,
shade-loving spruce and fir re-emerge and eventually
crowd them out.
The floor of the subalpine forest is littered with
fallen trees in various stages of decay. The winter
snow lingers into the summer, shaded by the dense
canopy. The flowering plants (forbs) found here are
species that thrive in a rich, moist environment. One
of these is the beautiful fairy slipper, an orchid that
takes its name from a hanging pink petal shaped like
a ballet slipper. Another is Jacob’s Ladder, identified
by the vertically ascending leaves on its feather-like
stalk and aromatic, pale pink or bluish flowers. The
tiny woodnymph, whose fragrant, waxy white flower
droops atop a four-inch stem, can also be found in the
climax forest.
In forest openings and disturbed areas, enough
sunlight penetrates to sustain a variety of plants that
are seen in many other ecosystems. One is our state
flower, the columbine. Some of the plants that grow
in these openings provide good forage for wildlife.
Heartleaf arnica, with its showy, bright yellow flowers
and heart-shaped leaves, and wild parsley are eaten
in spring and early summer. The fruits of wild rose,
golden currant and mountain blueberry are favorites
of birds, rodents, and black bears in the fall.
Square Sharp Spruce and Flat Friendly
Fir
The Englemann spruce is a long-lived, slow
growing evergreen. In the limited growing season at
high altitude, it takes hundreds of years for this tree
Columbine
to reach a mature height of more than one hundred
feet. The Englemann spruce has a rich, reddish
brown trunk and a ragged, narrow crown. Spruce
cones hang down from the branches and are light
brown with papery, toothed scales. Short, sharp
spruce needles are square in cross-section and singly
joined to the branch.
Subalpine firs are not as long-lived as spruce, but
they reproduce more readily. A mature fir has
grooved, grayish-white bark and may reach a height
of 75 feet. The crowns of subalpine fir tend to be
very narrow and pointed, resembling church spires.
Subalpine fir cones grow upright on the upper
branches. The needles of the subalpine fir are one to
two inches long, with whitish lines on both sides.
They are flat and soft and grow individually from the
branch. When fir needles fall or are pulled off, they
leave a depressed round scar on the twig.
Wildlife You Might Discover in the
Subalpine Forest
Subalpine forests are a tangle of robust trees, old
snags and downed logs. This particular mix of habitat
in these old forests provides food and shelter for a
wide variety of animals—animals with behavioral or
physical adaptations that shelter them from the cold
and wind.
Except during the coldest months, a variety of
puffy little birds nest, raise young, and roost in the
subalpine forest. The small roundish body type, surrounded by a fluff of dense feathers, insulates the
birds from the cold. Ruby-crowned kinglets, with
white-ringed eyes, and their cousins the goldencrowned kinglets, glean insects from the bark and
leaves and drink tree sap. Mountain chickadees
and dark-eyed juncos, pine grosbeaks and Cassin’s
finches pry seeds from pine, fir and spruce cones.
Red-breasted nuthatches creep headfirst down
tree trunks searching for insects. The omnivorous
gray jay, or “Camp Robber,” snatches sandwiches and
peanuts from hikers and campers to supplement its
diet of seeds and insects. A closely related species,
Clark’s nutcracker, shares both the jay’s nickname
and its habits. Unlike the gray jay, Clark’s nutcracker
does not move to lower elevations during the cold
winter months. Instead, these birds gather seeds that
they keep in a communal storage area to get them
through the winter and feed their young in spring.
This allows Clark’s nutcracker the opportunity to get
a head start on the breeding season, a definite advantage over other competing species in the forest.
Insect infested snags are great habitat for cavity
nesting and wood boring birds. Three-toed woodpeckers, and hairy and downy woodpeckers nest and
feed in the subalpine. The northern saw-whet owl
and the boreal owl also nest in tree cavities, as well as
old woodpecker holes. They feed on mice, voles, and
other small mammals found in the forest. Both of
these tiny owls are strictly nocturnal and are rarely
seen.
Blue grouse, sometimes called “fool hens,” stay
in the subalpine during the long winter, and roost in
the treetops. In summer, they head downhill for
mating rituals and breeding. This “reverse” migration is not what makes blue grouse “foolish,” but
rather their strategy of freezing and relying on protective coloration, camouflage, to protect them from
danger. The dusky blue coloration of the male and
the mottled brown feathers of the female help them
blend with their surroundings, keeping most predators from spotting them. However, these birds rarely
move even when it is apparent that the predator is
coming right at them. Rather than insuring survival,
standing firm in the face of insurmountable odds
makes the blue grouse a “sitting duck.”
Northern goshawks speed through the trees,
feeding on other birds, snatching them in mid-air.
Ravens are fairly common during the summer
months, feeding on nestlings and eggs, as well as
rodents, seeds, and fruit.
Mule deer and elk feed in the meadows and use
the trees for cover during the spring, fall, and
summer months. Moose move along the streams,
SUBALPINE FORESTS
41
feasting on willows. Rodents—chipmunks, goldenmantled ground squirrels, mice, and especially the
southern red-backed vole and the pine squirrels—
feed on pine nuts and spruce seeds, and fresh succulent grasses.
Snowshoe Hare
A mammal closely associated with the subalpine
forest is the snowshoe or “varying” hare. Both of its
names stem from its ability to navigate and survive in
this forest in winter. In summer, the snowshoe hare
has dark brown fur that conceals its presence as it
nibbles on flowering plants and grasses. In the
winter, the fur changes to white, again blending with
the scenery as the hare feeds on bark, twigs, and
buds. The oversized hind feet also come in handy
during this season, keeping the snowshoe hare from
sinking into the snow and allowing it to move unencumbered.
Some of the predators in the subalpine forest are
also seasonal change artists. The ermine, or short
tailed weasel, also turns white in the winter, except
for the tip of the tail. The weasel can stalk prey
unseen, then subdue the animal by wrapping its long
body around the victim, killing it with a well placed
bite at the base of the skull.
Another member of the weasel family, the
American marten, or pine marten, is another
important predator in the spruce-fir forest. They
are as adept hunting in the trees as they are on
the ground. Pine martens are about five times
larger than the ermine, but have the same long,
flexible body design. Their preferred diet is
pine squirrels, but they also eat nesting
birds, voles, and various other rodents.
Feline predators such as mountain lion,
bobcat, and lynx hunt here, although
only the lynx is suitably equipped
to pursue prey on deep snow. Like
the snowshoe hare, its preferred
food, the lynx has very large feet,
which allow it to move freely over
the snow.
42
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
A Closer Look at One Species—Moose
Historically, Native Americans, trappers, miners,
and ranchers spotted the occasional moose that wandered into northern Colorado. Yet even though
Colorado had prime moose habitat, moose were not
present in numbers sufficient to breed and reproduce. In 1978, the Colorado Division of Wildlife
began a moose introduction program, using
private donations. Over several years,
moose from Utah and Wyoming were
transplanted into suitable locations in
northern Colorado. They have thrived
in their new home, and today more
than 1,100 moose are in the state.
The moose is the largest member of the
deer family. Bulls (male moose) can stand a
formidable six feet tall at the shoulder and
weigh up to 1,200 pounds! Cows
(females) are smaller, about 700 pounds.
Moose produce the largest antlers
known—some sets in excess of six feet have been
recorded! Shaped like the palm of the hand with outstretched fingers, the size and pattern of the antlers
reflect the social position and reproductive status of
the male. The only time that antlers have any
purpose is during the annual rut, or mating season,
that begins in late September. Antlers are used to
intimidate a rival bull in order to gain mating rights
to a cow. Usually, the antler display of a prime bull is
enough to frighten away a younger or weaker male.
However, when males of equal status come together,
there is often head-on fighting and antler wrestling.
Moose inhabit the subalpine forest edge and
openings in the forest
adjacent to water.
American
Marten
Moose
Their preferred habitat is found in early successional
subalpine forest areas that have been recently
burned, logged, or manipulated by beavers. Typically,
moose prefer a mixture of willow, spruce, fir, and
aspen, that provides both food and shelter.
Moose are browsers. They mainly eat twigs and
leaves of woody or brushy plants. In the summer,
aquatic plants, willow, and grasses are their main
foods. Unlike deer and elk that cannot tolerate deep
snow, the moose stays put during winter rather than
moving to lower elevations. Moose are able to move
easily in as much as five feet of snow and can scrape
through it to get to forage. They survive the colder
months eating willow and the lower branches of
other trees, sometimes creating a “browse line.”
Crossroads of Biodiversity—Subalpine
Forests
A diversity of habitats provides a diversity of
opportunities for wildlife. In the subalpine forest,
some species profit from climax or “old-growth”
stands, while others benefit from the early or intermediate successional stages of the forest. For
example, snowshoe hares, a vital prey species in this
ecosystem, needs a mix of low-growing broad-leafed
shrubs for food and mature conifers for cover. They
prefer patches of trees with plenty of edge.
Woodpeckers and insect-eating birds like dead snags
and dying trees. The American marten, the great
arboreal hunter, also succeeds best in a climax forest.
The moose prefers the succulent browse of the
young forest. To maintain a diversity of wildlife
species in the subalpine forest, it is essential to
manage for sufficient acreage of all habitat types at
various stages of succession.
Table of Contents
SUBALPINE FORESTS
43
6
9
1
4
7
3
5
8
2
44
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
TREELINE
AND
ALPINE TUNDRA
45
Alpine Avens (Acomastylis rossii)—common plant found growing in dense mats
in dry tundra areas. Yellow in summer, this member of the rose family turns
deep red in the fall.
7.
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)—most widespread hawk in Colorado, especially numerous in piñon-juniper woodlands and winter grasslands, but occurring
year-round from grassland to tundra. In addition to rodents such as prairie dogs,
these hawks prey upon reptiles and rabbits.
2.
Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis)—Colorado’s state animal, used on the logo of
the Colorado Division of Wildlife. The horns, massive and curled on the males,
shorter on the females, have growth rings that can be used to estimate age.
American Elk/Wapiti (Cervus elaphus)—common throughout central and
western Colorado above 5,000 feet. In spring, migrating elk follow the melting
snow pack to higher elevations; in winter, snow depth triggers downward migration.
American Pika (Ochotona princeps)—sometimes called a cony, rock rabbit, or
whistling hare for its many vocalizations, found in subalpine forests and tundra.
The pika collects, dries, and stores a variety of vegetation in “haypiles” as a food
reserve for the winter.
3.
4.
5.
Mammals
Columbine (Aquilegia coerulea)—easily identifiable flower with large, blue sepals
and white petals. Colorado’s state flower can be found from foothills to alpine.
6.
White-tailed Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucurus)—year-round tundra resident, feeds
primarily on willows, sometimes foraging below timberline in winter. This
ptarmigan turns from mottled and barred brown and black in summer to almost
all white in winter.
1.
Lichens—represented by Pleopsidium flavum (yellow), Caloplaca epithallina (redorange), and Xanthoparmelia wyomingica (blue-green). Lichens are composite
organisms, composed primarily of fungi in partnership with either or both algae
and cyanobacteria.
9.
Engelmann Spruce (Picea engelmannii)—predominant tree of the subalpine
forest, capable of heights of 100 feet, but usually found stunted at treeline.
Engelmann spruce needles are short, thick, curved, and sharp-pointed.
Tree
8.
Fungi
Plants
Birds
Setting—Rocky Mountain National Park
Treeline and Alpine
Tundra
Every summer, thousands of motorists travel
from Twin Lakes to Aspen over Independence
Pass. Many marvel at the beautiful vistas of
conifer forests, aspen groves, waterfalls and
rushing waters encountered on the east and
west sides of the pass. But for those who stop
at the summit parking lot near the headwaters
of the Roaring Fork River, and stroll the paths
at an elevation of over 12,000 feet, a stark and
beautiful world awaits; the alpine tundra
ecosystem of Colorado.
The Upper Limit for Trees
Limber Pine
At the upper reaches of the subalpine forest,
fierce winds, extreme temperatures, shallow rocky
soils, lack of moisture, and a short growing season
make living conditions too severe for trees. Here,
stunted versions of subalpine fir and Engelmann
spruce, growing to only a fraction of their normal
height, start to grow together in dense clusters or
islands, using each other for support and protection
from the wind. Those that grow above shrub height
tend to have branches and limbs only on the side
that is sheltered from the wind, a phenomenon
known as “flagging.”
Other hardy conifers such as bristlecone pine and limber pine stand
alone on exposed ridges
Bristlecone
Pine
and peaks, their roots forced into narrow cracks
between rocks. Limber pines, named for their flexible branches that bend in the high winds, have
thick, stubby pine needles arranged in bunches of
five that grow only at the end of the branches. Both
the needles and cones are tightly attached and hold
fast as the extra long limber pine branches twist and
tangle in the wind.
Contorted by wind and snow, bristlecone pines
are the oldest living trees in Colorado, with lifespans measured in thousands of years. Bristlecone
branches are brush like and densely covered
with needles, and these trees are alternatively
called “foxtail pines.” Bristlecone needles
are also arranged in fives, but are short
and marked with small resin spots.
Bristlecone pines hold their needles ten
times longer than any other pine, shedding
only every 25 to 30 years. The cones have sharp,
bristly spikes at their edges—hence the name of
the tree.
There are many terms for these twisted trees
that border the highest edge of the subalpine forest.
Whether collectively called krummholz (German for
“crooked wood”), elfin forests, banner trees, flag
trees, or wind-timber, this area is an ecotone, an edge
between two distinct ecosystems. This specific
ecotone is known as treeline, or timberline.
Land Above the Trees
Just beyond this ecotone of twisted, windbeaten, and ground-hugging trees is the alpine
tundra. This mountaintop zone has climatic conditions similar to the Arctic tundra at far northern latitudes. In addition to the snow, the wind, and the
46
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
Flag Trees
brief
summer, the
topography itself
presents challenges to plant
growth. Since slopes are steep and soils are porous,
moisture from melting snows or summer storms
quickly drains, leaving little water for plant growth.
Rockslides and avalanches can destroy plants that
have been tenaciously surviving for decades. Plenty
of snow falls on these peaks, but high winds drive
the snow from exposed areas down into forests below
or into protected depressions. In the exposed areas,
the wind scrapes off new plant growth. Conversely,
the snowdrifts are so high in other areas that the
buried vegetation is not exposed to sunlight during
the growing season. Everywhere, the air is thin and
the solar radiation is intense, and even plants in relatively sheltered nooks and crannies contend with
dehydration.
In this harsh climate, few plants can go through a
complete life cycle of germination, growth, flowering,
and seed production in one short growing season.
Annual plants are a rarity. Most tundra plants are
perennial, going through different stages of growth
over many years, and may only put out one or two
leaves in a growing season. It may take a decade or
more for a plant to mature, and a plant only six
inches in diameter may be more than a hundred
years old!
Alpine tundra plants depend on an arsenal
of special adaptations for their survival. To
avoid losing moisture, many alpine plants
employ strategies similar to desert species.
Some have leaves with a smooth, waxy finish
that resists evaporation. Others have woolly
leaves, with dense fuzz that lessens the
chilling and drying effect of the wind. Still
other alpine species have fleshy succulent
leaves that store water.
Many plants have brilliantly colored
blossoms and dark green leaves. Not only
do some of the deeper shades absorb more
sunlight for warmth—some pigments actually produce heat! Many alpine plants
have the distinctive red tinge of anthocyanin pigments in their stems and
leaves, and often in their blossoms. If
the plant’s sap is more acidic, the
anthocyanin pigments in the
flower will appear red, if
more alkaline, the
flowers will be blue.
In either case, the
anthocyanin
pigment will
convert any
light waves
into heat to
warm the
plant, a marked advantage on a cloudy, cold day.
Cushion plants, such a moss campion, alpine
forget-me-nots, and alpine phlox have a rounded,
low-growing form which allows wind to flow over
them. Their shape exposes
the maximum leaf surface
Cushion Plant
for photosynthesis while
protecting the plant from
the elements. The
stubby branches catch
and hold blown-in dirt
along with old
decaying leaves that
absorb moisture.
Cushion plants put most
of their energy into producing a large taproot that
anchors them to the slope and
absorbs water two feet or more
below the surface. Above ground,
plants may reach the diameter of a
penny in five years and require about
twenty-five years to reach seven inches. They may
take ten years to flower.
TREELINE
AND
ALPINE TUNDRA
47
Ptarmigan
Mat plants such as dwarf clover and alpine sandwort survive by spreading—they are able to root in
any spot where a branch touches the ground. They
cling to the rocks by a tight network of small roots
that catch water trickling by.
Many of the plant species found on the alpine
tundra are circumpolar, occurring in the same habitats across the Northern Hemisphere, in both arctic
and alpine tundra regions. These plants slowly
migrated into what is now Colorado during the last
Ice Age. As the ice sheets retreated, some of the
plants remained behind, but ascended the slopes of
the mountains, where conditions are still comparable
to those in the arctic.
“Fourteeners”
The centerpieces of the Colorado Rockies are
the 54 peaks over 14,000 feet, or “Fourteeners,”
as they are affectionately known by climbers.
According to the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative,
a non-profit coalition with the mission of protecting and preserving the natural integrity of
these peaks and the quality of the recreational
opportunities they provide, Colorado’s
Fourteeners are now visited by over 300,000
people each year—and visitor numbers continue
to rise 10% each year. The lower alpine peaks
have even more visitors. This increased recre-
48
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
Wildlife You Might Discover on the
Alpine Tundra
The harsh conditions that make life difficult for
plants on the tundra place limits on animals as well.
Wildlife is more abundant during the warm summer
months, and most species leave to lower elevations or southern destinations in the
winter. Even in summer,
there are fewer wildlife
species in this ecosystem
than in others, and each has adaptations to contend with the intense
wind and cold, the precarious terrain,
and the scarcity of food and water.
Mosquitos, caddisflies,
beetles, grasshoppers, ladybugs, and other insects are all
present during the warmer
months, but in lesser
numbers than other
regions. Flies are by far
the most prevalent invertebrate on the alpine
tundra and have an
important role as pollinators. They are able to withstand lower temperatures than bees and have lower
energy requirements. Arctic blue butterflies, named
for the rich gray-blue wings of the males, and Mead’s
sulfur butterflies, also assist in pollination as they sip
on tundra flower nectar.
Birds are scarce. During the summer months,
prairie falcons and red-tailed hawks hunt for small
rodents. White-crowned sparrows and horned larks
are common and some may nest here. Just three
species—ptarmigans, water pipits, and rosy finches—
nest exclusively on the alpine tundra. Ptarmigans and
ational use has had serious impacts on these
ecosystems. Polluted waters, displaced wildlife,
eroded soils, braided trails, and trampled vegetation are some of the problems threatening the
tundra. The slow growing alpine plants are very
vulnerable, and recovery from even small disturbances such as trampling by hikers may take
many decades. Larger disturbances can disrupt
the alpine ecosystem for hundreds of years. When
visiting these high peaks, it is important to stay on
trails, dispose of waste properly, respect wildlife,
and not collect plants, rocks, or any animal or cultural artifacts.
pipits lay eggs in depressions on the open ground,
while the finches build nests among the crags.
The rosy finches and water pipits search the snowfields for insects and seeds. When the weather
gets colder in the fall, both species migrate to
warmer climates.
Only the ptarmigan lives on the tundra year
round. This bird, the size of a small chicken,
feeds on willow buds during winter. In an
open land with little cover, the ptarmigan
protects itself by turning from mottled
brown and black in summer to white in
winter and simply blends
in with the ground
cover. Ptarmigan legs
and feet are heavily
feathered to prevent
heat loss and to
provide a
Marmot
snowshoe like surface to
cross the snow. Males and
females winter in separate flocks.
Females huddle together in the snowy willow
thickets near treeline, while males remain at higher
locations.
Some burrowing mammals such as
voles, mice, northern pocket gophers, and
weasels also stay on the tundra year round.
Two distinctive alpine mammals are the
pika and the marmot. Pikas are small members
of the rabbit family. Instead of sporting long ears
like their relatives, they have small round ears that
are not as likely to freeze. Their other extremities are
also reduced in size to prevent heat loss. They have
fur on the soles of their feet, for warmth and as a
type of nonskid surface for running on the slick
rocks. Pikas do not hibernate and are active all year.
They collect and prepare stacks of “hay,” that they
store by their dens to make it through the winter.
Like their rabbit relatives, pikas also re-ingest their
own fecal matter, which is high in protein content
and energy value. Pikas preserve body moisture
by excreting dry, crystalline uric acid, leaving
noticeable white deposits on the rocks.
Pika
Yellow-bellied
marmots are comparatively
larger animals, related to woodchucks. The marmot has light brownish to yellowish fur, usually with a whitish band around
the nose. When marmots are not in their
burrows or sunning on rocks, they often
crawl on their bellies through dense vegetation, leaving a distinctive path in
their wake. Marmots eat themselves fat in summer and
hibernate all winter.
Curled up in a tight ball
during hibernation, the
marmot’s temperature
and heartbeat lower considerably and energy from stored fat reserves sustains its
life functions.
Many hoofed mammals can be seen on the
alpine tundra in summer, but they move to lower elevations when snow covers their
forage. Mule deer and elk feed
in the alpine meadows.
Bighorn sheep forage on the
steeper slopes. Both genders
Bighorn Sheep
TREELINE
AND
ALPINE TUNDRA
49
one species benefiting. The other
species may either be benefited,
harmed, or relatively unaffected by
the symbiotic relationship. These
subcategories of symbiosis are
known respectively as mutualism,
Mountain Goats
have true horns; they are not shed every year
like the antlers on deer and elk. The majestic curling
horns of the male are striking, and likely influenced
the selection of the bighorn sheep as Colorado’s state
animal.
In some areas of the state, reintroduced mountain goats pick their way up the slope in search of
fresh grasses and wildflowers. Both sexes have a
white shaggy coat, beards, and short, smooth black
horns that tilt backward. The male is larger.
Mountain goats are among the most sure-footed of all
animals. Their hooves have concave rubbery pads
that spread to create a non-skid grip on rocks.
A Closer Look—Lichens
On some alpine rocks and ridges, the only
growing things are crusts of bright-colored lichens.
Lichens are pioneer species that are often first to
colonize habitats not yet suitable for other living
things. Lichens require no soil, and have enormous
resistance to cold and dryness. As lichens grow and
die on bare rock, they form small amounts of soil,
which mosses, ferns, and flowering plants colonize.
Many kinds of lichens can also fix nitrogen, an
element essential for plant growth. They are able to
extract nitrogen from the atmosphere and store it in
soil for use by other plants. Likewise, lichens act as
decomposers, breaking down wood and bones into
materials needed by other species.
Lichen is not a single organism. It is a composite organism, composed of two or three species
functioning as one. This type of living arrangement is
known as symbiosis (literally “living together”). In
symbiotic relationships, two organisms live closely
associated for extended periods of time, with at least
50
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
parasitism, and
commensalism
(literally “at table
together”). Lichens are examples of mutualism, a
mutually beneficial relationship.
Lichen, composed of green algae cells (and sometimes cyanobacteria) surrounded by threadlike fungal
tissues, is self-sufficient, requiring only minerals and
water absorbed from rocks and the atmosphere. The
algae cells absorb water to photosynthesize food for
both algae and fungus. The fungi protect the algae
and/or cyanobacteria cells from dryness and cold.
Lichens have several adaptations to safeguard
their stronghold in their rocky habitat. They are able
to manufacture over 500 biochemical compounds that
regulate light penetration, ward off predators, kill
harmful microbes, and deter competing plant species.
There are over 3,600 lichen species in North
America. Birds and mammals use many kinds of
lichens for food and nesting material. Some lichen
species benefit humans as well, providing dyes,
antibiotics, and medicines. Most lichens are
extremely vulnerable to air pollution and their
sudden disappearance can be an indicator of
changing air quality.
Crossroads of Biodiversity—Alpine
Tundra
The Continental Divide, which runs through the
alpine tundra, acts as an obstacle to east-west species
migration in Colorado. Few songbirds, reptiles,
amphibians, or small mammals can surmount the
harsh conditions and cross the divide. It seems that
only the larger birds and mammals, which can
quickly move across the tundra during fair weather,
and small burrowing mammals break this natural
barrier.
Some of the small burrowing species, especially
the northern pocket gopher, have an enormous
impact on the plant diversity of the alpine tundra.
Next to wind and snow cover, a gopher’s presence in
alpine meadows is most influential in determining
the plants that can survive. Although pocket gophers
can only disturb a small portion of the total tundra
area, a few acres at a time, they can change those
small spaces for decades.
You are more likely to see the piles of subsurface
soil that the northern pocket gopher has excavated to
the surface than you are the gopher itself. In spring
and summer, the gophers feed on the roots of the
cushion plants and weaken their fragile hold. In
winter, pocket gophers dig through the protective
blanket of snow. This allows them, along with mice
and voles that use gopher tunnels, to feed throughout
the cold season, eating above ground plant portions.
Basically, they eat the vegetation away.
The following
summer, meandering
pocket gopher ribbons
appear from beneath melting snowbanks, ranging
from humps a few inches high to shallow depressions
marking caved-in tunnels. Sometimes these ribbons
dissect the meadows and make them look a bit like a
moth-eaten quilt. At other times, these patches have
the appearance of a cultivated garden. Seeds of tall
plants with bright flowers, such as sky pilot, alpine
avens, and bistort take root in these mounds of dirt.
These plants have less defense from the high winds,
and as they are clipped off by blowing rock and ice,
most of the soil blows away as well. The meadow is
further eroded when the gopher tunnels channel
runoff from melting snow. Usually, a pocket gopher
will re-work an area over and over, maintaining its
gopher garden for several years. At some point, the
soil from tundra meadow is gone and only bare rock
remains. Since succession is such a slow process on
the tundra, recovery from
exposed rock to lichen
colony to cushion plant
meadow may take centuries.
Northern
Pocket Gopher
Table of Contents
TREELINE
AND
ALPINE TUNDRA
51
Activity:
The Edge of Home
Objectives
Students will:
Identify the characteristics of ecotones, or transitional zones, between two wildlife habitats.
Method
Students explore the concept of ecotones by visiting places where habitats overlap.
Materials
Pencils; paper; long rope or string for marking
intervals in one-foot segments; clipboards.
Background
Ecology is the study of the interactions between
living things and their environments. Ecology comes
from the Greek word oikos, which means home. The
word ecosystem refers to the system of interactions
between living and nonliving things.
An ecotone is a unique environment created by
the overlap of two or more surrounding habitats. The
area of overlap between two ecosystems creates a
habitat edge where parts of each surrounding habitat
are present. Those places where the edges of ecosystems come together and overlap are the places where
the action occurs and change takes place. (See
Diagram A.)
In local communities there are abundant edges
and overlaps of edges that may be accessible to the
students. Playgrounds, school grounds, parking lots,
stream banks, lake shores and marsh edges can be
found within walking distance for many students.
DIAGRAM A
Ecotone
Forest
Habitat
In ecotones, overlapping ecosystems are more
complex than any ecosystem by itself. For example,
in an overlap of forest and marsh it is common to find
forest plants growing within the marsh. Often the
growth of the forest plants is stunted due to the
water in the marsh.
The overlapping ecosystems also offer a wider
diversity of wildlife because animals common to both
ecosystems are brought together. Even though they
may not be seen, there is indirect evidence of the
animal populations—for example: footprints, droppings and feathers are all common.
Although ecotones play an important role in the
overall landscape, it is also important to keep these
areas from becoming too fragmented. This fragmentation can adversely affect wildlife that depends
entirely on one ecosystem. The concept of maintaining ecotones and all of their components in a
dynamic natural balance is defined as preserving the
biodiversity of that area. The absence of diversity in
ecotones is often a clue that problems may exist in
the ecosystems that overlap.
Procedure
Before the Activity:
Locate an outside study site for this activity.
Choose a place where plants are invading a parking
lot or playing field, or the edge of a forest where it
meets a meadow.
1.) On the chalkboard, draw two large overlapping
circles. Put a large number of small squares and
triangles in one circle. Avoid the area of overlap.
In the second circle draw many tiny circles and
stars. Again, avoid the overlap area. Ask the students to predict what kinds of things they would
expect to find in the overlapping circles. Draw
circles, squares, triangles and stars in the area of
overlap. Ask the students where the greatest
diversity exists. Label the whole area of the
overlap the ecotone (this is the area of
greatest diversity). Label the original
Ecotone
two circles as Ecosystem 1 and
Ecosystem 2. Ask the students
to point out the edges of the
overlap. These are the places
Marshland
Habitat
52
Lake
Habitat
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
where the two ecosystems come together and
interact. The process and results of this interaction are called the edge effect.
Ecotone
Ecosystem 1
OPTIONAL: Take the class to a site in the community that has aquatic edges. Educators may be
able to find a beach, highway edges, the edge of
town, a place where a stream enters or exits a
lake or others that might be available in the community. Once there, ask the students to use the
same investigating techniques, working again in
teams of two or three. They should identify at
least two ecosystems; list and describe the characteristic organisms in each; identify the ecotone;
and list, observe and describe the organisms in
the ecotone.
Ecosystem 2
2.) Inform the students that they are going to investigate a natural setting where there are habitats
that overlap similar to the illustration. Ask them
to take paper, pencils and clipboards on which to
record their observations.
3.) Take the students to the selected site. Ask them
to work in teams of two or three to list the things
found on either side of the edge. Each team
should examine two different ecosystems, not
examining the interactions and area where the
two ecosystems meet and overlap. Have the students list the different species of plants and
animals they observe, and tally what they find.
Include direct and indirect evidence of life. Ask
them to discuss the similarities and differences,
and to keep notes.
4.) Next, ask the students to carefully examine the
edge. Determine how wide the ecotone or zone
of shared characteristics is. Point out that this is a
miniature ecotone. The students might try to
estimate the size of the ecotone as well as the
diversity of species within the ecotone. Compare
the diversity of plants and animals found within
the ecotone with the diversity of the plants and
animals found in the two separate ecosystems
they originally examined.
NOTE: It may help the students organize more systematic observations if they stretch a length of rope or
string from one ecosystem to another. Have the students
make and record observations every foot (or other unit
of measure) along the line. It helps to mark the string
or rope at these intervals.
5.) After the trip, compare and interpret the students’ findings. Ask them for evidence they
found to support the idea that populations of
plants and animals tend to be more diverse
within ecotones than in separate ecosystems.
Extensions
1.) Create an ecosystem map or model of your community. Indicate the location of the principal
ecotones.
2.) Take a simple piece of paper and measure the
edges. Cut the paper into four equal pieces—and
measure the edges again. Repeat this twice
again, measuring the edges each time. Support
the idea that each new rectangle is a suitable
habitat for some aquatic organism and discuss
how diversity is related to edges.
3.) Assess the overall health of any ecotones that
seem particularly important to the quality of life
for aquatic species in your community. What
could be done to protect the area from being
damaged, degraded or lost?
Evaluation
1.) Write a paragraph about the characteristics of
ecotones. Write two additional paragraphs to
describe two ecosystems and an associated
ecotone.
2.) Choose a species of wildlife and write a story
about its life as it roams through several different
ecosystems and ecotones. Explain how the
animal’s experiences are different at each of the
various locations.
Duration: one or two 45-minute sessions
Group Size: any
Setting: outdoors and indoors
Vocabulary: ecosystem, ecotone, edge effect
This activity was reprinted with permission from,
“Project WILD Aquatic K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide”
Table of Contents
A C T I V I T Y: T H E E D G E
OF
HOME
53
13
1
6
3
2
17
18
8
20
9
16
22
15
19
12
11
7
14
6
4
21
5
10
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WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
A Q U AT I C E C O S Y S T E M S , R I PA R I A N A R E A S ,
AND
WETLANDS
55
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)—distinguished by its large ear tufts and found at
all but the highest elevations, has the widest distribution of any North American owl.
The distinctive hooting calls of this nocturnal owl are heard throughout the year, especially in late winter when they begin to nest.
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)—usually found in lower-elevation, wooded riparian areas, and
identified by a distinctive head crest, larger on the male. Females call a loud “oo-eek”
during flight.
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)—named for the sound of its call and identified by two
dark neck rings, widespread up to about 10,000 feet. This ground-nesting plover has the
interesting habit of dragging a wing along the ground as if injured to draw predators
away from its nest.
Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia)—prefers cottonwood-willow riparian habitats up to
about 10,000 feet. Males, identified by reddish streaks on their yellow breasts, arrive in
Colorado in May and increase their singing upon the arrival of the females.
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)—the male, or drake, distinguished by iridescent green
head and yellow bill. Perhaps the most numerous and widespread of any wild duck,
only the female of the species “quacks”.
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)—duck named for its long pointed tail. At birth, pintail
ducklings are well developed and immediately walk to water, sometimes covering distances up to a mile on their first day of life.
Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)—introduced Rio Grande subspecies found in riparian
cottonwood habitats. Sociable birds often seen in large flocks, the familiar fanning of the
tail is a courtship display done by the male while strutting and “gobbling”.
Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)—found in riparian areas at all elevations. The
relatively short wings and long tails that typify accipiters like these “Sharpies” are
useful in catching smaller birds in mid-air.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
12. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)—adults identified by black streak over the eye and,
in breeding adults, head, neck, and back plumes. The largest heron in the U.S., and the
most widespread, this four-foot tall bird can often be seen wading or slowly walking
through shallow water in search of food.
11. Bullock’s Oriole (Icterus bullockii)—formerly the Northern Oriole, has black eye-line
and markings on otherwise orange face compared to all-black hood of the Baltimore
oriole (I. galbula). Great Plains settlers planted deciduous trees like cottonwoods, providing a bridge between the two species and allowing for interbreeding.
10. Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)—identified by a white chinstrap on an otherwise
black head and neck. This once uncommon species is now numerous in many of the
state’s riparian areas and valleys, especially along the northern Front Range.
13. American Beaver (Castor canadensis)—largest rodent in North America, found in
riparian areas from grassland to alpine tundra. The beaver’s eyes, ears, nose and mouth
can be covered for swimming, its hind feet are webbed, and its paddle-like tail can be
used as a rudder, or a water-flapping alarm call.
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)—favors riparian habitats, primarily cattail
marshes and swamps, below 8,000 feet. Known as the “witchety” bird from the sound
of its song, the yellowthroat gleans insects from the ground or from low shrubs.
1.
22. Sandbar Willow (Salix exigua)—sometimes called Coyote Willow, common along lowerelevation stream banks in tandem with cottonwood. A characteristic riparian species,
this willow colonizes and helps stabilize newly created sandbars.
21. Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)—the water tree of riparian Colorado, occurs on the
eastern prairie as the Plains Cottonwood, and in lowland areas of the west slope as
the Rio Grand or Valley Cottonwood. The more abundant Narrowleaf Cottonwood
(P. augustifolia) is found at higher elevations with the Lanceleaf hybrid in between.
Trees
20. Western Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata)—occurs at all elevations, usually in or near
standing water. The male’s mating call is an ascending “pre-ee-eep”.
19. Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum)—found throughout Colorado where aquatic
breeding areas are accessible. Coloration, influenced by the environment, can range
from light bars on a dark background to dark bars or spots on a light background.
18. Smooth Green Snake (Liochlorophis vernalis)—grass green with white undersides,
found in mid-elevation riparian areas of Colorado. Active from about May to September,
large numbers of these sociable snakes often hibernate together.
Reptile and Amphibians
17. Raccoon (Procyon lotor)—identified by a black mask and a bushy tail with alternating
black and lighter-colored rings. These ringtail relatives are omnivorous and primarily
nocturnal.
16. Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)—the most widespread carnivore in the world, in Colorado may
range in color from red to black, but always with a white-tipped tail. This fox’s hearing
is sensitive to low-frequency sounds, enabling it to hear the underground activities of its
burrowing prey.
15. Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)—inhabit all of Colorado’s ecosystems from grasslands
to tundra. Named for the large ears that can move independently, these deer also have
scent glands above the back hooves.
14. Common Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus)—smaller than the beaver with a thinner, sideflattened tail. More closely related to voles than to true rats, muskrats can stay underwater for periods of fifteen minutes or more, needing only seconds above water
between submersions.
Mammals
Birds
Setting—The Rio Grande between Monte Vista and Alamosa
Aquatic Ecosystems,
Riparian Areas, and
Wetlands
Water: Essential for Life
Poet Thomas Hornsby Ferril
described Colorado as a state
where “life is written in
water.” With an average
annual precipitation of just
less than 16 inches,
Colorado is considered a
semi-arid state. Yet, the
water that collects in the
rivers, creeks, lakes, ponds,
spring seeps and surrounding
wetlands is vital to sustain
the biodiversity of the
state. Together, freshwater
ecosystems, riparian lands,
and wetlands constitute an
estimated one to three percent of
the state’s land, but support most of
Colorado’s plant and animal species!
Riparian Area
Water Worlds
Colorado’s streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, irrigation
ditches and reservoirs are all aquatic ecosystems. The
kind of habitat that each provides and the variety of
life that each can support is determined by many
factors—water temperature, water clarity, current,
amount and kind of dissolved minerals, and the
materials that line the bottom. Dissolved minerals in
the water influence the variety and abundance of
aquatic plants. For insects, fish, and other animals,
oxygen levels are the decisive factor governing what
species can thrive in a particular body of water. The
mix of plants and animals that live in the cold, fast
moving waters of high mountain streams and rivers is
very different than the mix of species inhabiting relatively warm, tranquil low elevation lakes and ponds.
Riparian Lands
A riparian land scene was chosen to represent
water-associated ecosystems for this poster series.
The word “riparian” is an adjective used to describe
lands bordering bodies of fresh water, usually the
banks of rivers, streams, and ponds. Riparian areas
are found at all elevations and within all ecosystems
of the state from grassland to alpine tundra. Riparian
lands represent an ecotone, an area of transition
between distinct ecosystems. They are strongly influenced by the nearby presence of water, and generally,
56
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
have microclimates that are cooler and wetter than
the bordering land ecosystem. Species diversity in
riparian areas is two to three times higher than in the
surrounding ecosystems.
Wet Meadows,
Marshes, and
Peatlands
Wetlands, as varied as
the topography of the state,
support more life acre for
acre than any other habitat.
But what are they? How can
you know a wetland when
you see one?
Wetlands are places
where the soils are flooded or
saturated long enough each year
that most plants would drown.
The presence of unique
hydric soils, which are
oxygen poor, and the special
“water-loving” plants, hydrophytes, that have adaptations to thrive in them, indicate a wetland.
Common hydrophytes such as cattails, bulrushes,
sedges, saltgrass, willows and cottonwoods draw
oxygen out of the air down their
stems to their roots.
Rush
Two types of common wetland
plants are rushes and sedges.
Grass-like in appearance, rushes
have round stems and sedges have
triangular stems with three edges.
Just remember: Rushes are Round,
Sedges have Edges!
Colorado has three main types
of wetlands: wet meadows,
marshes, and peatlands. Wet
meadows are often located near
riparian areas. Wet meadows have
saturated soils during a portion of
the year, usually spring and early
summer, just after snowmelt.
These lush meadows often look
greener or darker than the surrounding land. Wet meadows are
the most prevalent wetland type in
Colorado.
Marshes are similar to wet
meadows, but they flood in the
spring. Usually, there is an impervious layer of rock somewhere
Sedge
below the surface of the soils,
which holds the water like a
bucket. In the spring, some
marshes may have standing
water as deep as three to four
feet. The water slowly evaporates throughout the summer.
On Colorado’s eastern grasslands, clay soils beneath the
marshes hold the water, forming
shallow temporary lakes called
playas.
Peatlands or “fens” are high
elevation wetlands that form when
groundwater seeps to the surface
from enormous underground springs.
Since the soils are low in oxygen,
and the bacteria that decompose the
dead plants do not work very efficiently, the dead leaves and roots
slowly accumulate over thousands of
years, packing down into layers of
peat.
Cottonwoods—the Water Markers
benefiting biodiversity by creating a variety of different niches.
Colorado boasts several varieties of cottonwood—the Plains cottonwood is found east of the
divide, while the Rio Grand, or Valley cottonwood, is
found in the west. The Narrowleaf cottonwood is
found at higher elevations, but hybridizes when it
intermingles with the other varieties at intermediate
elevations to produce the Lanceleaf cottonwood.
Wildlife You May Discover in Aquatic
Ecosystems and Wetlands
The most numerous organisms in aquatic ecosystems are impossible to see with the naked eye.
These microscopic plants (phytoplankton) and
animals (zooplankton) form the base of the aquatic
food chain and are vital to the healthy functioning of
aquatic ecosystems and wetlands. They provide food
for macroinvertebrates, animals lacking backbones
but visible to the naked eye. Macroinvertebrates, in
turn, play a significant role in the food chain of freshwater ecosystems by providing food for fish, birds,
reptiles and amphibians.
Some macroinvertebrates are solely aquatic,
living their entire lives in the water. A common
aquatic species one might see is the water boatman,
which uses its paddle-like hind legs as tiny oars to
move through the water. Like a scuba diver, the
water boatman carries its own air bubble to supply
oxygen. Water striders, backswimmers, diving wasps
and beetles also provide entertaining watery antics.
Most macroinvertebrates are adapted for
aquatic life only in their immature stages. For
example, caddisfly larvae enclose themselves in a long case made
from particles of fine
sand or plant material, and attach
Cottonwood trees are common in riparian areas
across our state. Cottonwoods serve as evidence that
surface water or groundwater is nearby, or was in the
past.
Cottonwoods depend on a cycle of flooding and
erosion to reproduce. Cottonwood seeds can
only germinate on bare, wet soil. Once
sprouted, they grow very quickly, sending
roots down three feet or more during their
first year. These deep roots help sustain the tree
during periods of low water and anchor the tree
during flood events.
Each year, as spring snowmelt overflows the
banks of stream channels, Colorado’s creeks and
rivers wander and reshape themselves. The water
washes away existing vegetation, leaving bare ground
for more cottonwood seeds to germinate. At
the same time, old cottonwoods are
uprooted and washed into the
stream. The fallen trees decompose
while acting as a dam to prevent
sand in the flowing waters from
passing through. The sandbars that
form are first colonized by willows
and eventually by new cottonwoods.
At other times, streams meander
far away from remaining cottonwoods,
leaving them as silent markers of bygone
streambeds. Over time, this persistent
flooding and meandering creates a mosaic
Cottonwood
of older, middle-aged and young trees,
A Q U AT I C E C O S Y S T E M S , R I PA R I A N A R E A S ,
AND
WETLANDS
57
Water Boatman
this case to the
stream bottom. Inside,
the caddisfly larvae grow and mature through their
pupal stage. Mature individuals then cut themselves
free, crawl or swim to the surface of the water, and
take wing. Mayflies, damselflies, dragonflies and
stoneflies are other familiar flying insects, as are mosquitoes, gnats, and flies.
The diversity of macroinvertebrate species in
aquatic ecosystems is a measure of the health of the
ecosystem.
Certain
Mayfly
macroinvertebrates are
indicator
species, whose
presence or absence
reveals much about
the quality of the water.
While some species like
sludgeworms and rat-tailed
maggots can live in highly polluted waters where oxygen supply
is low, others like mayflies, caddisflies, and riffle beetles are very sensitive to pollution and can only survive in cleaner
environments.
In high mountain streams, brown, rainbow,
brook, and native cutthroat trout feed on emerging
insects and smaller fish such as fathead minnows,
johnny darters, and sculpins. Some of the larger
mountain lakes and reservoirs are stocked with
kokanee salmon and North American’s largest trout,
the mackinaw, or lake trout. At lower elevations,
channel catfish and various sucker species are plentiful in streams and lakes. In the 1980’s, Tiger
Muskie, a hybrid of northern pike and muskie, were
often introduced to control catfish and sucker populations. These large, sterile fish have become a
favorite with many Colorado anglers, providing
trophy-fishing opportunities. Largemouth and smallmouth bass, yellow perch, bullhead, green sunfish,
crappie, wiper, and bluegill also provide great fishing
recreation in Colorado’s warmer waters.
58
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
Colorado’s wetlands and aquatic ecosystems
provide ideal habitat for reptiles as well as amphibians. Most amphibians and reptiles live at elevations
below 6,000 feet, with few species above 8,000 feet.
Lowland riparian areas, floodplains, ponds, and
marshes, host an abundance of these animals,
including Woodhouse’s toad, plains and northern
leopard frogs, northern cricket frogs, northern water
snakes and the common garter snake. The Great
Plains toad is found only in lowland riparian areas in
eastern Colorado. When danger threatens, this toad
inflates itself, closes its eyes, and gets close to the
ground. On the western side of the state, red-spotted
toads and canyon treefrogs occupy riparian zones in
rocky canyon bottoms.
At the higher elevations, wet meadows, marshes,
bogs, beaver ponds and other wetlands, especially
those near areas riddled with rodent burrows that
amphibians can use for hibernation and shelter, are
home to tiger salamanders, western chorus frogs,
wood frogs, and boreal toads. Colorado’s boreal toad
once thrived in wetlands above 7,000 feet. Since
1985, these toads have disappeared from more than
80 percent of their historic range. A likely cause of
the decline is a chytrid fungus. Scientists don’t know
how this fungus is transmitted from one area to
another, or if this is the sole factor in the decline of
this toad, and research continues.
Wetlands and riparian lands contain the greatest
diversity of bird species of any Colorado ecosystem.
Within the cottonwood riparian forests,
you can spot insect and seedeating birds such as vireos,
Trout
Great Blue
Boreal Toad
warblers, orioles, blackbirds, grosbeaks, finches and
flycatchers, as well as cavity-nesting birds such as
woodpeckers and merganser ducks. Look to the
stream banks and you may see an entrance hole for a
kingfisher’s nesting tunnel. On the shore or in the
water, you may see an American dipper. In its search
for food, the dipper can dive underwater and can
actually walk along river bottoms! It has special
scales that seal its nostrils and oil glands
that waterproof its plumage. Great blue
herons can often be seen wading or
slowly walking through shallow water
in search of food.
Raptors, like golden eagles
and prairie falcons, Cooper’s
hawks, American kestrels,
and great horned owls
commonly roost and hunt
among the cottonwoods.
Bald eagles, whose main
prey is fish, perch on mature cottonwoods alongside open water. On
the high, rocky cliffs overlooking
these riparian areas in Western
Colorado, a visitor may be lucky
enough to spot a peregrine
falcon, which preys upon
smaller wetland birds such as
red-winged blackbirds and
swallows.
Colorado’s marshes are our most important wetlands for migratory water birds. Ducks, geese, shore-
Heron
birds, and
wading birds all
use marshes as
stopovers during migration, as resting and
feeding sites and/or as
breeding and molting
grounds. Ducks, killdeer
and spotted sandpipers
arrive in the early
spring to feed on fairy
shrimp and midge
larvae, a rich
protein source
that they
require for egg
laying and
migration. Wet
meadows also
provide browse and
shelter for shorebirds and
waterfowl. Mallards and pintail ducks commonly nest
in these areas in the early spring.
Wetlands are important to mammals also.
Cottontail rabbits, mice, voles, and raccoons are
common. Elk and deer graze in wet meadows alongside domestic livestock. Nearly all mammal species
in the state visit riparian areas at one time or another,
but beaver, mink, muskrat and river otter call them
home.
River otters are carnivores that feed on fish,
frogs, and crayfish. River otters are classified as an
endangered species by the state. This means that
otters are in jeopardy of becoming extinct in
Colorado. Historically present in riparian habitats
statewide, the otter was extirpated by 1907. A
reintroduction effort, using otters trapped in
other states, began in 1976. More than 100
river otters were released at
Cheesman Reservoir
Kingfisher
and on the Piedra,
Gunnison, Upper
Colorado and
Dolores Rivers.
Currently, there
are three healthy
populations of
river otters on the
Gunnison, Piedra
and Green rivers and
biologists are considering reclassifying the
river otters’ status to
state threatened.
A Q U AT I C E C O S Y S T E M S , R I PA R I A N A R E A S ,
AND
WETLANDS
59
River Otter
A Closer Look at One Species:
American Beaver
The American beaver is an extraordinary
creature, possessing all the right tools for
aquatic life. The largest rodent in North
America, the beaver has clear membranes to
cover its eyes when submerged, built-in ear
and nose plugs, a thick waterproof pelt to
keep it warm in wintry waters, and huge lungs
which allow it to remain under water as long
as fifteen minutes. The beaver even has lips
that close behind its front incisors, so it can
swim carrying food or building materials
without taking in water!
Awkward on land, the beaver has
appendages that make it a swimming superstar. Its hind feet are webbed, and the paddleshaped tail provides a rudder to control
swimming direction. The multi-purpose
tail can be slapped loudly against the
surface of the water to communicate
potential danger and also serves as an
important fat-storage area.
This animal is capable of altering
the environment to perhaps a
greater extent than any other
except humans. Natural engineers, beavers build dams, lodges,
bank burrows, and canals to regulate
water levels to create a perfect habitat for
themselves. Most dam construction occurs after
spring runoff and in the fall in preparation for the
winter. With sharp teeth and strong jaw muscles,
beavers can cut through a four inch diameter willow
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WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
in about three minutes. Beavers then use their surprisingly dexterous forepaws to embed building
materials in the streambed and anchor them by piling
and interlacing other materials. Behind the dams,
waters slow and pool, often producing good fish
habitat and increasing forage.
Beavers mate for life and usually live in family
groups of up to eight related individuals called
colonies. The entire colony shares a lodge made of
sticks, mud and rocks, which may have multiple
underwater entrances. Although they are well
designed, with air vents and moisture absorbing
floors, lodges, as well as dams, need constant
maintenance and repair.
In Colorado, beavers use willow,
aspen and cottonwood for food as well as
for building material. They eat the leaves, buds, and
cambium (a thin layer of living, dividing cells just
under the bark of trees). Since they do not hibernate,
beavers store food in underwater caches where it is
available for use throughout the winter. The average
beaver colony needs about eight to ten acres of suitable trees to survive. Once their supply of preferred
wood is depleted, beavers will abandon the area,
allowing it to return to its pre-dam
conditions. This sets the stage for
undisturbed re-growth of the
aspen, cottonwood and willows
that will someday again entice a
beaver family to settle there.
American
Beaver
Wetlands and Aquatic Ecosystems—
Biodiversity at a Crossroads
Wetlands, riparian lands, and aquatic ecosystems,
as home to our greatest diversity of species, also host
the most species listed as threatened and endangered. Sixty-nine percent of the mammal, bird,
amphibian, and fish species listed in “Wildlife in
Danger”, published by the Colorado
Division of Wildlife, inhabit riparian
and aquatic areas.
Among the
mammals listed as
threatened, both by
the state and federal
government, is the
Preble’s meadow
jumping mouse. This
means this mouse, while
not being in immediate jeopardy of extinction, is vulnerable
because it exists in small numbers and
is extremely restricted throughout most of
its range. The Preble’s meadow jumping mouse
is brownish in color with a dark stripe running
down its back. It has large hind feet (for jumping), a
three to four-inch body and a five-inch tail.
This little mouse can jump a foot and a half
into the air and cover a distance of three feet along
the ground in a single leap. What’s more, it has the
uncanny ability to abruptly change directions in
mid-jump! It apparently uses its tail as a rudder both
in the air and in the water. Yes, the Preble’s meadow
jumping mouse is also an accomplished swimmer.
Like the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, each
threatened and endangered species in Colorado is
unique and is worth our respect, admiration, and
wonder. Through concerted recovery efforts undertaken by dedicated public and private partnerships,
there have been many success stories of restoring
threatened and endangered populations. People in
Colorado continue to make a difference.
Management Issues and Challenges
Acre for acre, Colorado’s aquatic ecosystems and
wetlands are the state’s most valuable lands for
wildlife habitat, agricultural production, water
quality, tourism, outdoor recreation and ecosystem
services (refer to the activity “Wetland Metaphors”
for details). These regions face natural and human
pressures that must be addressed by government,
landowners, and private citizens to conserve their
capacity to meet future wildlife and human needs.
Aquatic ecosystems, riparian lands, and wetlands
are constantly changing. Lakes and ponds fill in with
vegetation and gradually become dry land. Rivers
meander across valleys, leaving oxbow lakes, marshes
or wet meadows behind. Climate shifts enlarge or
shrink existing wetlands. Droughts, like the one that
Colorado currently faces, dry streams and wither
marshes and riparian areas.
Human activity has dramatically increased the
rate and magnitude of change in these areas. The net
result is a reduction of these habitats, not only in
Colorado, but worldwide. This
decline hasn’t been the
result of negligence or
thoughtlessness, but
rather decisions often
made with the best
intentions and
limited knowledge
to solve a pressing
local problem.
Understandable
decisions, made individually and in
Preble’s Meadow
Jumping Mouse
a local context, to
reduce insect-borne
disease, create jobs, feed people, and build roads
and cities, have had cumulative unintended consequences.
There are a host of human activities that have
impacted aquatic ecosystems and wetlands:
Draining of Wetlands—Historically, it was common
practice to drain or fill in wetlands to provide agricultural land, build cities and transportation
systems, and to reduce the possibility of insectborne diseases such as malaria and yellow fever.
Introduction of Invasive Plant Species—Quick
growing, ornamental exotics such as tamarisk and
Russian olive trees were intentionally cultivated by
people in riparian areas to stabilize stream banks.
Unfortunately, these exotics sucked up tremendous
quantities of moisture and displaced native plant
species. While they provided habitat for a few bird
species, overall they reduced wildlife habitat.
Many exotics are very resistant to control efforts.
A Q U AT I C E C O S Y S T E M S , R I PA R I A N A R E A S ,
AND
WETLANDS
61
Channelization—Before humans understood the
ecologically beneficial functions of stream meandering, it was common practice to straighten and
deepen watercourses. This was done to make
stream dynamics more predictable and to aid in
transporting water from one location to another.
With flow rates, shores, stream banks and
streambeds altered, and with islands and sandbars
reduced or eliminated, channelization of Colorado’s
waterways has also contributed to reduced cottonwood tree regeneration and the precarious status of
several of our state’s species.
Heavy Metal Pollution from Acid Mine Drainage—
Mining practices of the 1800’s left a negative
legacy of tailing piles and acid seepage. It is estimated that one-third to one-half of the state’s total
stream mileage has heavy metal loads which
exceed current water quality standards.
Other activities that have degraded Colorado’s wetland
and aquatic areas include: contamination from poorly
sited or constructed landfills, overgrazing by livestock, gravel mining, runoff of oils, pesticides,
chemicals, and other pollutants, overuse by recreationists and changes related to water storage and
diversion (which can positively affect some areas
while harming others).
When the full value of wetland, riparian lands
and aquatic ecosystems was recognized, both public
and private groups began to manage these areas in a
manner to ensure that their beneficial functions—
from fishing opportunities to water purification—
would continue. Some management tools are mitigation, restoration, enhancement, and acquisition.
Mitigation is the strategy by which a wetland
destroyed by one activity is replaced with a comparable human-made wetland in the same region.
Restoration is the process of reestablishing the original condition of a degraded environment. It may
involve “undoing” what was previously done, such as
de-channelizing a waterway and allowing it to
meander in its historic course. Enhancement makes
an existing environment even better, by plantings, by
providing nesting boxes for birds, or improving the
water quality. Acquisition is buying critical habitats
or water rights outright, or negotiating conservation
easements. Colorado has a rich history of protecting
critical habitats, both by private groups such as the
Nature Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited, and publicly through lottery proceeds from the Great
Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund.
Good stewardship of these lands is an ongoing
challenge, often complicated by a fragmented array
of laws and separate sets of rules managed by different local, state, and federal agencies. Much of this
land is privately owned, and wetland and riparian
land conservation is often not economically beneficial
to the landowner that might otherwise develop the
property. The challenge of the government role is
not to try to control or usurp private rights, but to
encourage landowners to manage these lands in such
a way as to maintain and enhance their value to
society as a whole.
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62
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
Activity:
Wetland Metaphors
Objectives
Students will:
1.) describe the characteristics of wetlands; and
2.) evaluate the importance of wetlands to wildlife
and humans.
Method
Students are presented with a selection of
objects for investigation as metaphors for the natural
functions of wetlands.
Materials
A large pillowcase, bag or box; sponge; small
pillow; soap; eggbeater or mixer; small doll cradle;
sieve or strainer; paper coffee filter; antacid tablets;
small box of cereal; 3-inch x 5-inch cards with pictures that could be used to show other wetland
metaphors. (A zoo could represent the idea of
wildlife diversity in a wetland, a lush vegetable
garden could represent the idea of a productive
wetland in which food is abundant, a vacation resort
could represent the idea of a resting or wintering
place for migrating waterfowl.)
NOTE: A metaphoric approach such as this allows a
variety of objects to suggest some appropriate linkage to the
basic characteristics of wetlands.
Background
Wetlands are many different things to many different people. Some people have never heard or
thought about wetlands. Others are working actively
to protect wetlands because of their importance.
Wetlands include such areas as freshwater and
saltwater marshes, wet meadows, swamps, lagoons,
bogs and prairie potholes. All wetlands, whether
coastal or inland, provide special habitats that serve
areas far beyond their boundaries. Wetlands are
uniquely important to plants, animals, humans and
the total environment.
Because of the abundance of food, vegetative
cover (shelter) and water found there, most wetlands
are rich with diverse wildlife species.
Coastal and inland marshes, for example, provide
breeding, resting and wintering habitats for thousands of migratory birds—including ducks, geese,
swans, cranes and shore birds. Many species of fish
that are important for commercial and personal use
by humans reproduce and spend part, or all, of their
life cycles in fertile wetlands adjacent to larger, more
open bodies of water. These fish species include
bass, salmon, walleye, perch and pickerel. A wide
variety of reptiles, amphibians, insects and crustaceans also breed and live in wetlands. Frogs and
toads, turtles of all kinds, salamanders, snakes, dragonflies, water striders, clams and crayfish flourish in
wetland habitats. Many mammals—from muskrat and
beaver to white-tail deer and moose—also depend on
wetland areas.
Wetlands are often referred to as nurseries
because they provide critical breeding and rearing
habitats for countless numbers and kinds of wildlife.
Wetlands also have the unique ability to purify
the environment. They act as natural filtering
systems and have been shown to be extremely effective. For example; they can trap and neutralize
sewage waste, allow silt to settle and promote the
decomposition of many toxic substances.
The importance of vegetation associated with
wetlands cannot be overlooked. Plants absorb nutrients and help cycle them through food webs. Plants
also help keep nutrient concentrations from reaching
toxic levels. Plants slow down water flow, causing silt
to settle out. Through photosynthesis, plants add
oxygen to the system and provide food to other life
forms. Of great importance to humans are the floodcontrol characteristics of wetlands. When runoff from
rains and spring thaws are high, wetland areas absorb
excess water until it gradually drains away down
streams and rivers and through the soil. Acting as
buffers, healthy wetlands prevent flooding and
erosion. In dryer periods, wetlands hold precious
moisture after open bodies of water have disappeared.
The many activities that take place in wetlands
make them among the most productive ecosystems
in the world.
As remarkable and resilient as wetlands are,
these unique areas have limits. Their destruction
and/or abuse can have devastating effects on wildlife,
humans and overall environmental quality.
Many of the major attributes of wetlands can be
explored through the use of metaphors. To use a
metaphor is to apply a word or phrase to an object or
concept that does not literally denote in order to
suggest a comparison between the two. A metaphor
represents a concept or idea through another concept
or idea. “A tree is a home” and “Books are windows of
thought” are two examples. In this activity, a variety of
A C T I V I T Y: W E T L A N D M E TA P H O R S
63
everyday objects are used to represent the nature
functions of wetlands. For example:
Object
Metaphoric Function
sponge
absorbs excess water caused by runoff;
retains moisture for a time even if
standing water dries up (e.g., sponge
placed in a small puddle of water
absorbs water until saturated, then stays
wet after standing water has evaporated)
pillow or
bed
is a resting place for migratory birds
mixer or mixes nutrients and oxygen into the
eggbeater water
cradle
provides a nursery that shelters, protects
and feeds young wildlife
sieve or
strainer
strains silt, debris, etc., from water
filter
filters smaller impurities from water
antacid
neutralizes toxic substances
cereal
provides nutrient-rich foods
soap
helps cleanse the environment, as wetlands do
Wetland habitats are being converted to other
uses (agriculture, roadways, housing developments)
or otherwise being altered (drained for pest control or
polluted) at the rate of about a half-million acres per
year. And although many wetlands are protected by
federal and state laws, there still appears to be a significant need to create a greater understanding of the
importance of wetlands as ecosystems and as wildlife
habitat.
The major purpose of this activity is for students
to develop an appreciation and understanding of wetlands through the power of metaphor, linking the
characteristics and natural functions of wetlands to
the familiar realm of everyday life.
Procedure
1.) Prepare a “Mystery Metaphor Container” (pillowcase, bag or box). It should be possible for students to put their hands into the container and
pull out an object without being able to see
inside the container. Educators may want to
collect as many as one metaphor object per
student, but at least have enough for one per
group of four students. Put the container aside to
use later.
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WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
2.) Discuss the variety of wetlands found in your
local area, state, country, etc. Then invite the
students to sit quietly and close their eyes. Ask
them to picture a wetland. Have them examine
what it looks like. Have them look carefully at
the plants and animals, including insects and
small creatures. What does the air feel like? How
does it smell?
3.) Invite the students to tell what they imagined.
Compile a list of their offerings. Encourage discussion and mutual sharing.
4.) With their lists as a point of reference, help the
students identify which plants and animals are
most likely to be found in a wetland. If possible,
have them classify the plants and animals
according to the kind of wetland in which they
would be found. State or federal wildlife officials
and representatives of private conservation or
nature-related organizations can be helpful.
5.) Next provide the students with background
information to serve as an overview of the basic
ecological activities that characterize the wetland
habitat. For example, educators might include
the following:
• sponge effect—absorbs runoff
• filter effect—takes out silt, toxins, wastes, etc.
• nutrient control—absorbs nutrients from fertilizers and other sources that may cause contamination downstream
• natural nursery—provides protection and
nourishment for newborn wildlife
Suggest that these activities and many more that
they could probably this of are taking place in
wetlands all the time.
6.) Now bring out the “Mystery Metaphor Container.”
Tell the students that everything in the container
has something to do with a wetland. Have the
students divide into groups of four. Announce
that when it is their turn, a representative of
each group will draw an object from the container. Then, as a group, they must figure out
how the object could represent what a wetland is
or does.
7.) Have the designated student reach into the container and withdraw one object. When each group
has an object, ask them to work as a team to
describe the relationships between their
metaphoric object and the wetland. Encourage
the students to build on each other’s ideas. You
can also assist by strengthening their connections.
NOTE: Allow the students time to discuss their ideas
with each other before doing so in front of the entire
class.
8.) Ask each group to report its ideas to the class.
9.) Following discussion and review of the functions
represented by each metaphor, ask the students
to summarize the major roles that wetlands
perform in contributing to habitat for wildlife.
List the ways in which wetlands are important to
humans. Why do humans convert wetlands to
other uses? Ask them if their own attitudes about
wetlands are different now. If yes, how? If not,
why not?
10.) For the final part of this activity, encourage the
students’ understanding of how the wetlands’
condition depends upon each of us. Many kinds
of wildlife depend upon wetlands. Our own wellbeing requires wetland ecosystems. Strengthen
the students’ understanding of how humans are
connected to wetlands. Recreation, aesthetics,
utilitarian uses, environmental quality and nature
study are but a few of the connections we each
have with wetlands.
2.) Wetlands are important to a range of organisms in
the animal kingdom, from zooplankton to
humans. Select five species of animals and
describe how wetlands are important to each.
Duration: one or two 30–60 minute sessions
Group Size: any
Setting: indoors or outdoors
Vocabulary: wetlands, metaphor
This activity was reprinted with permission from,
“Project WILD Aquatic K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide”
Extensions
1.) Visit a wetland to verify the appropriateness of
the metaphors explored in the classroom.
Identify and discuss any limitations to the appropriateness of these metaphors. Identify what
seem to be the most compelling attributes of the
metaphors in helping you understand the characteristics and nature of the wetland. Expand on
your understanding of these metaphors. Identify
new and appropriate metaphors.
2.) Investigate local, county, state and federal regulations and laws that govern uses of wetlands.
Evaluation
1.) Explain why wetlands are among the world’s
most productive ecosystems.
Cattails
Table of Contents
A C T I V I T Y: W E T L A N D M E TA P H O R S
65
Glossary
Abiotic: Non-living factor in an environment.
Acquisition: As a management strategy, the process of protecting habitat through such transactions as purchasing critical habitats or exclusive water rights, or negotiating
conservation easements.
Deciduous: Trees that shed their leaves annually.
Decomposers: Species that help break down, or decompose, all others.
Antlers: Skin-covered, bone projections found typically on
the heads of male members of the deer family, that are
shed and re-grown annually, in contrast to the horns of
bighorn sheep, mountain goats, and pronghorn, which are
not shed.
Delayed implantation: Reproductive strategy in which the
attachment of the fertilized egg to the uterine wall is
delayed.
Aquatic: Associated with, or living in, water.
Ecosystem: The sum of interactions between a community
of species and the non-living components of the environment, such as temperature, soils, water, and elevation.
Biodiversity: Short for biological diversity, includes the
variety of species, genetic diversity within a species, and
the diversity of ecosystems within a recognizable area.
Biomass: Organic material.
Biome: A large geographic area with uniform climatic conditions and distinct vegetation.
Bioregion: An area whose physical, ecological, or cultural
characteristics set it apart from surrounding areas.
Biotic: Living factor in an environment.
Browsers: Those species that mainly eat twigs and leaves
of woody or brushy plants. Often contrasted with grazers.
Diurnal: Most active in the daytime.
Ecotone: Area of transition between distinct ecosystems.
See also edge.
Edge: Area of overlap between two ecosystems where parts
of each surrounding habitat are present. See also ecotone.
Endangered species: A species or subspecies that is in
jeopardy of becoming extinct.
Endemic species: A species found nowhere else in the
world.
Buck: Mature male of certain mammal species, including
deer and pronghorn.
Enhancement: As a management strategy, the process of
bettering an existing environment through such actions as
plantings, providing nesting boxes for birds, or improving
water quality.
Bull: Mature male of certain species, including bison,
cattle, elk and moose.
Extirpated: Species absent from its native range but not
extinct.
Cambium: A thin layer of living, dividing cells just under
the bark of trees.
Fens: High elevation wetlands that form when groundwater seeps to the surface from enormous underground
springs. Also known as peatlands.
Camouflage: Protective coloration that helps species blend
in with their surroundings.
Circumpolar: Occurring in the same habitats across the
northern hemisphere, in both arctic and alpine tundra
regions.
Climax community: A plant community at the end point
of the successional sequence, that maintains itself if the
environmental conditions stay the same.
Coevolution: Shared shaping of adaptations.
Commensalism: Literally “at table together”, a relationship between two species where one benefits and the other
remains relatively unaffected, neither significantly helped
nor harmed. See also symbiosis.
Community: Species living and interacting in an area.
Composite organism: Organism composed of two or three
species functioning as one, e.g., lichens.
Coniferous: Trees that keep their green needles
throughout the year.
66
Cultural diversity: The richness of human knowledge,
beliefs, and traditions.
Forbs: Non-woody, broad-leafed, flowering plants.
Furbearer: As a legal classification, an animal with marketable fur.
Game animal: As a legal classification, a wildlife species
that can be hunted according to legal seasons and limits.
Grazers: Those species that mainly eat grasses and forbs.
Often contrasted with browsers.
Habitat: Where organisms live and get the food, water,
shelter and living space they need to survive.
Hibernaculum: Place where bats hibernate.
Hibernation: A state of winter dormancy.
Horns: Bone-like projections from the heads of bighorn
sheep, mountain goats, and pronghorn that are not shed
every year like the antlers of deer and elk.
Hydric: Oxygen poor soils characterized by, and showing
the effects of, the presence of water.
Consumers: Species that primarily eat or consume others.
Hydrophytes: “Water-loving” plants that have adaptations
to thrive in oxygen-poor, or hydric, soils.
Cooperative breeding: Survival adaptation in which the
previous year’s offspring help the parents raise the new
brood.
Indicator species: Species whose relative abundance and
condition reveal much about the condition of the larger
ecosystem.
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
Krummholz: Literally “crooked wood”, the stunted,
twisted trees that border the highest edge of the subalpine
forest.
Rut: Mating season of male moose, elk, deer, sheep, and
goats.
Landscape: A general term for an area that shares enough
features to set it apart from another area.
Lek: Strutting ground of male grouse and prairie chickens.
Specialization: Adaptive strategy in which species restrict
their activities to a specific time period or part of the environment. Also known as niche differentiation.
Life zone: A band or belt of plant and animal life, usually
on the side of a hill or mountain, which changes with elevation and latitude.
Species: Populations of individuals that basically look
alike, behave similarly, and are able to breed and produce
fertile offspring under natural conditions.
Macroinvertebrates: Animals lacking backbones but
visible to the naked eye.
Species abundance: The number of individuals of each
species in a given area.
Mitigation: As a management strategy, constructing or creating wetlands to replace those lost to development.
Species richness: The number of different species in a
given area.
Monoculture: The raising of a crop of a single plant
species, generally even-aged.
Sublimation: Process in which moisture from snow returns
to the atmosphere directly as water vapor.
Morphological: Pertaining to physical form and structure.
Succession: The natural process by which plant communities replace previous ones over time.
Mutualism: A mutually beneficial relationship between
two species. See also symbiosis.
Myotis: The “mouse-eared” bats.
Niche: The function, opportunity, or “job” available to a
living thing in an ecosystem.
Niche differentiation: Competitive strategy in which
species restrict their activities to a specific time period or
part of the environment. Also known as specialization.
Nocturnal: Most active at night.
Parasite: An organism that draws its needed nutrients from
another.
Parasitism: A relationship between two organisms where
one benefits and the other is harmed. See also symbiosis.
Peatlands: High elevation wetlands that form when
groundwater seeps to the surface from enormous underground springs. Also known as fens.
Photosynthesis: The process by which green plants manufacture simple sugars in the presence of sunlight, carbon
dioxide, and water.
Scat: Animal feces or droppings.
Symbiosis: Literally “living together”, two organisms
living closely associated for extended periods of time, with
at least one species benefiting. See also mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism.
Taxonomist: Scientist who classifies organisms.
Threatened species: Species or subspecies in jeopardy of
becoming endangered.
Torpor: A state of lowered metabolic rate. An animal in
such a state is described as torpid.
Treeline: The transitional zone or edge between subalpine
forest and alpine tundra, sometimes called timberline.
Trophic level: The role of a species in the food chain, or
feeding level.
Wet meadows: Areas with soils that are saturated during a
portion of the year, usually spring and early summer, just
after snowmelts.
Zooplankton: Microscopic animals.
Phytoplankton: Microscopic plants.
Pioneer: Early successional species that are often first to
colonize habitats not yet suitable for other living things.
Pollination: The transfer of pollen from the male part of
the plant (anther) to the female portion of the plant
(stigma).
Pollinator: An organism that pollinates flowers.
Playas: Shallow, temporary lakes.
Precocial: Refers to young that are sufficiently developed
at birth or hatching to function with a degree of independence from their parents.
Producers: Species that make their own food, and serve
mostly as food for others.
Restoration: As a management strategy, the process of
reestablishing the original condition of a degraded environment.
Riparian: Describing lands bordering bodies of fresh
water, usually the banks of rivers, streams, and ponds.
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G L O S S A RY
67
References
Alonzo, A., Dallmeier, F., Granek, E. and Raven, P.
Biodiversity: Connecting with the Tapestry of Life.
Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 2001.
Kingerly, Hugh E., Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas. Denver,
Colorado: Colorado Bird Atlas Partnership, 1998.
Andrews, Robert and Righter, Robert. Colorado Birds:
A Reference to their Distribution and Habitat. Denver,
Colorado: Denver Museum of Natural History, 1992.
Kruger, Frances Alley and Meaney, Carron A. Explore
Colorado: A Naturalist’s Notebook. Denver, Colorado:
Denver Museum of Natural History, Englewood,
Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers, 1995.
Armstrong, David A., Adams, Rick A., Navo, Kirk W.,
Freeman, Jerry and Bissell, Steven J. Bats of Colorado:
Shadows in the Night. Denver, Colorado: Colorado
Division of Wildlife, 1995
Mutel, Cornelia Fleischer and Emerick, John C. From
Grassland to Glacier: The Natural History of Colorado
and the Surrounding Region, Second Edition. Boulder,
Colorado: Johnson Books, 1992.
Fitzgerald, James P., Meaney, Carron A. and Armstrong,
David M. Mammals of Colorado. Niwot, Colorado:
University Press of Colorado, 1994.
Wildlife in Danger: The Status of Colorado’s Threatened or
Endangered Fish, Amphibians, Birds, and Mammals,
Denver, Colorado: Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Johnson, Kirk R. and Raynolds, Robert G. Ancient Denvers:
Scenes from the Past 300 Million Years of the Colorado
Front Range. Denver, Colorado: Denver Museum of
Nature & Science, 2002
Young, Mary Taylor. Colorado Wildlife Viewing Guide, Second
Edition. Helena, Montana: Falcon Publishing, 2000.
Zwinger, Ann H. and Willard, Beatrice, E. Land Above the
Trees: A Guide to American Alpine Tundra. New York:
Harper & Row, Perennial Library, 1972.
Field Identification
Manuals
Field Identification Manuals are an essential
resource for exploring and understanding nature in
Colorado and elsewhere. There are many excellent
guides available at bookstores and libraries. Our suggested list is by no means exhaustive. The books or
series that are marked with a “•” may be more useful
to young or beginning naturalists.
Field Guide Series
The Audubon Society Nature Guides
The Audubon Society Pocket Guides
Golden Field Guides
Golden Guides •
National Audubon Society Field Guides
National Audubon Society First Field Guide Series •
National Audubon Society Regional Field Guide Series
Nature Finder Guides
Peterson Field Guides
Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists •
Peterson First Guides •
Peterson Flash Guides (Map-like, with 24 waterproof
panels)
Readers Digest North American Wildlife Series
Simon & Shuster Guides
68
WILD Colorado: Crossroads of Biodiversity
Smithsonian Kid’s Field Guides •
Stokes Beginner’s Guides •
Stokes Nature Guides
Other Field Guides
Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Second
Edition; National Geographic Society,
Washington, D.C.
Guennel, G. K. Guide to Colorado Wildflowers—
Volume 1: Plains & Foothills. Colorado: Westcliffe
Publishers, 1995.
Guennel, G. K. Guide to Colorado Wildflowers—
Volume 2: Mountains. Colorado: Westcliffe
Publishers, 1995.
Hammerson, Geoffrey A. Amphibians and Reptiles in
Colorado: A Colorado Field Guide, Second Edition.
Colorado: University Press of Colorado, Colorado
Division of Wildlife, 1999.
Weber, William A. Colorado Flora—Eastern Slope.
Colorado: University Press of Colorado, 1990.
Weber, William A. Colorado Flora—Western Slope,
Revised Edition. Colorado: University Press of
Colorado, 1996.
A great way to spice up your teaching.
Three Project WILD activities are included in this guide:
Which Niche? (page 6)
The Edge of Home (page 52)
Wetland Metaphors (page 63)
These are just three of the 170 great activities you will find in the
Project WILD and Aquatic WILD activity guides. These guides are free to
Colorado educators who attend one of our exciting WILD workshops.
For information on workshops offered in your area visit our Web site:
coloradocorrelations.org
Go to the links on the left and click on Teacher Workshops.
These workshops are offered for continuing education credits.
Also check out the workshops offered by our partner programs:
Project Learning Tree, Project WET, and Project Food, Land & People.
The activities in Project WILD and our partner programs have been
correlated to the Colorado Model Content Standards. You can find
those correlations on the same Web page mentioned above. This
interactive Web page will guide you to just the right activity to enhance your
teaching to meet specific standards, or cover chosen topics or subject areas.
First introduced in 1983, Project WILD is now offered in all 50 states
and throughout Canada. Over 650,000 educators in the United States
have participated in Project WILD workshops. Project WILD is sponsored
and administered in Colorado by the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
The goal of Project WILD is to assist students of any age in developing
awareness, knowledge, skills, and commitment to result in informed
decisions, responsible behavior and constructive actions concerning
wildlife and the environment.
For more information, visit coloradocorrelations.org
or contact Colorado Project WILD at
(303) 814-1391.
Table of Contents
Colorado Division of Wildlife, Education Section